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for civic amenities and even graveyards. As cities tried to make room for more
residents, and expand infrastructure, including roads, trees were seen as
dispensable and making the cities green in large part amounted to planting eyepleasing
shrubbery and not trees that could have a positive impact on the
environment.
Slums / katchi abadis
The majority of the Pakistani population living in big urban centres resided
in katchi abadis. As migration from rural areas to cities grew and appropriate
housing capacity was not developed, the overcrowded cities could not integrate
the large influx of people. These migrants and under-privileged individuals
were forced to reside in sub-standard localities with near complete lack of
basic amenities. Many could only afford a place to stay in the slums on the
fringes, where they were also hassled by the authorities. Some slums had
existed for decades but the residents were not given any right to the land they
had called home. The eve of election held great promise for those living in
slums because ahead of elections in the past the elected governments were
known to have regularised slums to gain votes. Regularisation generally involved
security from eviction, provision of basic amenities and facilities like clean
drinking water, and sewerage system, etc. However, even when the slum
dwellers were given proprietary rights in the land that they lived on little was
done to bring the basic infrastructure at par with other urban localities. At least
65 shanty towns that had existed in Lahore for two decades or more were still
awaiting regularisation at the end of 2012. The Punjab Directorate of katchi
abadis had sought the revenue record from the City District Government of
A significant proportion of population lack access to basic infrastructure....
255
State of Human Rights in 2012