MQM-P, mayor trade accusations over Hill Park land in Karachi

KARACHI: A dispute over land and development activity at Hill Park triggered a sharp exchange on Sunday between Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab, with the opposition party alleging illegal allotments and the mayor insisting no Karachi Metropolitan Corporation land had been transferred.

At an emergency press conference held at Hill Park, MQM-P senior leader and MNA Dr Farooq Sattar appeared alongside senior party figures including Syed Aminul Haque, former Karachi mayor Waseem Akhtar, Sindh Opposition Leader Ali Khurshidi and other officials. Dr Sattar alleged that public land in Karachi was being handed to land grabbers under the patronage of the provincial government. He said a portion of Hill Park had recently been changed through what he described as unauthorised excavation and plotting, and claimed the development was not part of the PECHS master plan.

Dr Sattar further alleged that officials in KMC and PECHS had issued illegal no-objection certificates. He called for an inquiry by accountability institutions and sought suo motu notice from the Sindh High Court. Warning of wider consequences, he said, "If the hill is sold today, the entire park could be sold tomorrow," and demanded action against the officials he said were involved.

The MQM-P leader also said encroachments were resurfacing on public land in several parts of Karachi, including around Nehr-e-Khayyam, Beach View and Benazir Bhutto Park. He said his party had previously pursued legal action to remove illegal structures from public spaces such as Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim, Kidney Hill Park and Empress Market. During the same press conference, Dr Sattar praised former Sindh governor Kamran Tessori for welfare and education measures, especially free IT training programmes for thousands of students. He also criticised the Sindh government's approach to local government and repeated MQM-P's demand for implementation of Article 140-A of the Constitution for stronger local bodies.

Former mayor Waseem Akhtar urged state institutions to step in, saying Karachi's public assets were again under threat from powerful interests. He warned that if the matter was not addressed, valuable public land could be lost.

Responding to the allegations, Mayor Murtaza Wahab firmly denied that KMC had allotted any part of Hill Park.

"Hill Park was, is, and will remain KMC property," he said, adding that KMC had neither allotted nor planned to allot "even an inch" of land inside the park.

Wahab said he had personally ordered work at the Hill Park site to be stopped after reports of activity emerged during the Eid holidays. According to the mayor, KMC officials visited the location on the fourth day of Eid and halted the work. He said that while Hill Park itself falls under KMC, issues relating to ownership and regulation of nearby lands and housing societies, including PECHS, are separate. He also said PECHS is regulated by federal authorities.

Defending his administration, Wahab said KMC was working to protect Karachi's heritage and open spaces. As an example, he referred to an ongoing plan to establish a historical museum at Beach View in collaboration with Citizens Archive Pakistan and the Sindh government, saying the initiative reflected a commitment to preservation rather than commercial use.

The latest exchange adds to an increasingly bitter political dispute over land management, urban development and the future of Karachi's public spaces, with both sides blaming the other over planning and governance in the city.