Bahria Town Karachi is a privately owned gated suburb just off the M-9 Motorway northeast of

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The suburb is being developed by the

Bahria Town Group Bahria Town (Private) Limited ( ur, ) is an Islamabad-based privately owned real-estate development company which owns, develops and manages properties across Pakistan. It established its first gated community exclusively developed for the el ...

, and occupies over . Construction started in 2014 and will continue. The community includes the

Grand Jamia Mosque Grand Jamia Mosque ( ur, گرینڈ جامع مسجد), is a cultural complex under construction in Bahria Town Karachi, Pakistan. When completed, the complex will include what would be Pakistan's largest and the world's third-largest mosque acc ...

, which is the world's third largest mosque, and the

Rafi Cricket Stadium Rafi Cricket Stadium is a cricket stadium located in Bahria Town Karachi, Pakistan. It is the largest cricket stadium in Pakistan. Designed by Gerkan, Marg and Partners, it has an ICC-certified design. The complex is consist of a cricket academ ...

, the country's largest, designed by

GMW Architects GMW Architects was an architectural practice based in the United Kingdom. In August 2015, the firm was taken over by another business, Scott Brownrigg, "as part of plans to move into the airport sector." History The practice was established in 19 ...

. Bahria Town has the Danzoo which is the largest zoo in Karachi. It has Bahria Adventura which is the largest theme park in Karachi. It has multiple schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, parks, monuments, cinemas and shopping malls. The community is divided by the , , 18-lane, Jinnah Avenue. The community will be energy independent with a coal-fired and an LNG-powered electricity generation plant, in partnership with

K-Electric Electric (KE) ( ur, ) (formerly known as Karachi Electric Supply Company / Karachi Electric Supply Corporation Limited) is a Pakistani investor-owned utility company based in Karachi. K-Electric is a privately owned and vertically-integrated e ...

. It is also home to a 36-hole

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

standard golf course. The community consists of over 60 precincts and is planned to house around one million people. The town will be connected to

I. I. Chundrigar Road I. I. Chundrigar Road ( ur, ), previously known as McLeod Road, is a road located in central business district of Karachi, Pakistan, and is named after former Pakistani Prime Minister Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar. The road serves as the spine of ...

by a

Karachi Metrobus Karachi Breeze is a is a network of bus rapid transit lines under construction in Karachi, Pakistan. Construction began in 2013, two lines are operational and one line is under construction as of early 2022, with 3 more planned. The projected ri ...

route in the future. In 2019, Bahria Town Karachi demanded unplanned 35% development charges, which were later inferred for an unknown period. It sparked protests and criticism throughout in Karachi and overseas. Refunds of illegal plotting were issued on priority basis in 2021. Bahria Town was one of the few areas of Karachi not flooded during the 2022 floods even though it received 1050mm rainfall during

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

season.

Sub-divisions

Bahria Town Karachi is divided into more than 60 precincts.

Infrastructure

A number of traditional villages were destroyed to make way for Bahria Town Karachi, often without the requisite legal approval. The development has significantly changed the topography of the area. Saudi German Hospital Group constructed a 300-bed hospital on a 12-acre site at a cost of $300 million. The Hospital is named Begum Akhtar Rukhsana Memorial Trust Hospital. On October 5, 2016,

and Bahria announced plans to set up a plant for construction of a 600MW energy plant exclusively for Bahria Town Karachi. On September 1, 2016,

China Railway Construction Corporation Limited China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (abbreviated CRCC) is a listed construction enterprise based in Beijing, China, that was the second largest construction and engineering company in the world by revenue in 2014. The limited compan ...

and

signed agreement for construction on Blue Line of

which will connect the town with downtown Karachi.

Controversies

2015

Pakistan Rangers The Pakistan Rangers ( ur, ) are a paramilitary federal law enforcement organization in Pakistan, operating under the authority of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan. Their primary purpose is to secure and defend sites of significance in the ...

claimed in a meeting that Bahria Town has been allotted 44,000

acres The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ya ...

from

Sindh Government The Government of Sindh ( sd, حڪومت سنڌ) ( ur, ) is the provincial government of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Its powers and structure are set out in the provisions of the 1973 Constitution, in which 30 Districts of 7 Divisions un ...

, while the amount of land in records is less than 44,000

2016

On 1 August 2016,

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, the top court of Pakistan ordered Bahria Town Karachi and

Malir Development Authority Malir Development Authority was established to oversee the development of Malir Town, Malir in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It was merged with the City District Government Karachi (CDGK), City District Government Karachi in 2001 but were reinstated a ...

(MDA) to halt the construction work at 5,786 acres of land with an immediate effect. In an interim order, the apex court has ruled the land was illegally allotted to Bahria Town by the development authority. The court also directed

National Accountability Bureau The National Accountability Bureau ( ur, ; abbreviated NAB) is an autonomous and constitutionally established federal institution responsible to build efforts against corruption and prepare critical national economic intelligence assessments ...

(NAB) to complete its investigations and submit a report within two months. It also restrained the

from allotting any further land to Bahria Town. Bahria Town officials rejected the claim and report. One of the officials said that the land has been purchased from local.

2018

The

decided to investigate the Bahria Town Karachi development in May 2018, citing massive irregularities in the way land was acquired. The apex court barred Bahria Town from selling or allotting land in the Bahria Town Karachi project after declaring that the allotment of land to the company by the

and a massive land swap with the

(MDA) was done illegally.

2019

After 10 months of legal wrangling, the Supreme Court agreed to Bahria Town Karachi's final settlement of Rs460 billion (approximately US$3.1bn) on 21 March 2019. Under the terms of the settlement, Bahria Town Karachi will have to pay the entire amount over seven years. In its ruling, the top court ordered Bahria Town Karachi to pay Rs25 billion by August 2019. From September 2019 onward, it will have to pay monthly installments of Rs2.25bn for the next three years. If the company fails to deposit two installments, Bahria Town Karachi will be considered a defaulter. The first tranche was successfully received on 30 August 2019. Under the terms of the settlement, only 16,896 acres of the total 24,571 acres has been validated by the Supreme Court

2021

In April, clashes broke out between Bahria Town Karachi and indigenous Sindhi Villagers when Bahria Town Karachi began expanding its development into nearby villages. In response, many parts of

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

observed a shutter down strike. Later on June 6, 2021, nationalist parties and indigenous people announce a sit-in in front of Bahria town's iconic gate, later protest went violent and Bahria's iconic gate set on fire by protesters. According to some people of Sindh, the society extending itself illegally with support of

and thus some people of Sindh reject this extension. Following the protests a number of activists and civil society members were beaten or threatened by the

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

and Bahria Town Security. Police arrested thousands of people on terrorism related charges including people not present at the July 6 protest.

Gallery

File:BTK Eiffel Tower 1.jpg, Bahria Town Eiffel Tower is built on a hill hence visible from far distances File:Bahria_Town_Karachi_Grand_Mosque_2.jpg, Grand Jamia Mosque is the 3rd largest mosque in the world File:Bahria_Town_Karachi_Egyptian_Column.jpg, Egyptian Columns with ancient egyptian writing are built on main entrance File:Bahria Town Karachi (Trafalgar square) - panoramio (1).jpg, Tauheed Square is one of the largest squares in Bahria Town File:17th Avenue Bridge Bahria Town Karachi.jpg, 17th Avenue Bridge File:Buildings on Jinnah Avenue Bahria Town Karachi.jpg, Highrise Buildings are being erected at fast pace on Jinnah Avenue File:Allah Wali Roundabout.jpg, Allah wali Roundabout

References

{{Neighbourhoods of Karachi Bahria Town