Karachi's Hawke's Bay housing scheme: 57,000 families waiting after 36 years of delays

The Government of Sindh launched Hawke’s Bay Housing Scheme 42 Karachi with a promise to provide affordable seaside housing to the people. Three and a half decades later, the promise remains unfulfilled. Over 57,000 allottees remain trapped in uncertainty, with their life savings stuck in a project that exists only on paper. Many allottees have passed away while waiting, and their families continue to struggle for justice.

Under this scheme, the first balloting for plot allotment was conducted in 1990, while the last was held in 2012. In total, 57,289 residential plots were allotted to citizens at subsidized rates. From these allottees, the authorities collected more than PKR 8 billion as the cost of the plots.

According to official records, 11,450 acres of land were originally reserved for the scheme. However, nearly 5,000 acres of land and thousands of allotted plots were taken back by the government. According to available records, this land—now valued at more than PKR. 50 billion. Meanwhile, only about 6,200 acres of land were finally left for the Hawke’s Bay Scheme, but allottees have not received leasehold rights to their plots despite having paid the full amount years ago.

On the ground, the situation is even worse: essential infrastructure was never completed. Basic utilities such as electricity, gas, and clean water are still unavailable. Over 3,000 developed plots are encroached. In several developed sectors, illegal excavation of soil has turned hundreds of allotted plots into deep pits and ditches, making them unfit for construction.

This investigative report by Nukta’s Special Correspondent, Akhtiar Khokhar examines why Hawke’s Bay Housing Scheme 42 failed, how public land and funds were mishandled, and who bears responsibility for keeping thousands of innocent families deprived for decades.