KARACHI PRESS CLUB: Concerned Karachiites, Civil Society Representatives & Prominent Environmental Experts converged here on Tuesday (25th Nov, 2025) to sound alarm on rapid conversation of public parks into commercial ventures and its impacts on environment & ecosystem.
Conspicuous, among others who spoke at the Presser there were: Marvi Mazhar (Architect & Cultural Practitioner); Madeeha Syed (Journalist & Documentary Producer); Ahmad Shabbar (Environmental Researcher & Climate Activist); Masood Lohar (Environmentalist/founder Urban Forest); Asad Ali Sheikh (Community Representative); Rasha Tarek (Community Representative); and Kamal Mustafa (Community Representative).
Speakers at the Presser urged immediate action to stop this drive that, they stressed, is causing public nuisance and hardship to neighborhood residents. They called on the Sindh government, Mayor Murtaza Wahab and authorities to immediately halt the conversion of public parks into commercial ventures, citing severe impacts on the city’s environment, public health, and community well-being.
Speakers informed that 13 parks in Clifton, PECHS, adjacent areas have already been converted into padel courts, commercial sports facilities, and other profit-driven activities, while the process is ongoing, one by one more parks being handed over to private operators. This trend threatens to deprive residents, especially women, children, and the elderly, of essential green spaces critical for physical activity, mental health, and social interaction.
The commercialization of parks not only violates urban planning principles but also exacerbates environmental degradation, increases pollution, and undermines the city’s climate resilience,” said the speakers of the forum & spokesperson for the movement. “We demand an immediate stop to the privatization of our parks. These parks are the lungs of our city, and we will not stand idly by as they are sold leased out on public-private-partnership-basis for personal gain of private individuals!
Residents are particularly alarmed by the nighttime noise, security risks, and loss of community spaces that these ventures bring to residential neighborhoods. The conversion of parks into commercial entities is also expected to disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, including children, women, and the elderly, who rely on these spaces for recreation and socialization.
Citizens, urging all the karachiites to join them in demanding the protection of green spaces, called on:
- The Sindh Local Government Department to cancel all commercial leases and permissions granted for public parks.
- The Mayor, Murtaza Wahab Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to prioritize public interest and halt all commercial activities in parks.
- The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to conduct environmental impact assessments for all affected parks.
- The Commissioner Karachi, Division and Deputy Commissioner (South) to ensure public parks are protected for residents and accessible to all citizens.
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List of 13 Karachi Parks that have already been transformed into money-making ventures:
ST-15, Park Clifton Block 1
ST-19 Park, Clifton Block 1
Umer Sharif Park Clifton Block-2
ST-4 Park,Clifton Block 2
ST-13 Park, Clifton Block-3
Bagh Ibn e Qasim Clifton Block-3
Triangle Family Park Clifton Block-4
ST 30 Hosh Muhammad Sheedi Park ,Clifton, Block-5
ST-12 Park, Clifton Block-5
Bhagwan Das Park, Clifton Block-5 (work in progress)
Jheel Park, Block-6, PECHS
Hill Park , PECHS
KMC Sports Complex, Kashmir Road.
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