Orangi Town (Urdu: اُورنگی ٹاؤن) is a town in the northwestern part of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It is bordered by New Karachi Town to the north across the Shahrah-e-Zahid Hussain, Gulberg Town to the east across the Gujjar Nala stream, Liaquatabad Town to the south, and SITE Town to the west. The township is currently the largest slum in South Asia, after surpassing the size of Dharavi in Mumbai, India, although while Orangi is approximately 22 square miles (57 km2) in area, Dharavi is less than one square mile. [1], making Orangi far less dense.[2][3]
Further, Orangi comprises several new developed middle class areas and
housing-societies which are still considered slums for statistical
purposes[citation needed]
because they lack the basic facilities that are provided to most homes,
although strictly speaking, they are not slums certain shantys in
dharavi have acces to running water and is connected to the sewage
system. The modern buildings that are coming up in Dharavi have running
water and flushes something that is absent in orangi town.
Over 99% of the population is Muslim and 75% of the population is Muhajir, However local muslims are slowly being forced into these townships and cliams are made to save face by the Pakistani govrnement. Orangi town has a population of approximately 2.5 million although government records report that it had 700,000 inhabitants.[5] In last 15 years the Orangi Town's demography has substantially changed as Pakhtun fleeing the Taliban conflict in northern Pakistan have settled in this town in large numbers.[citation needed]
The local community financed, designed and built their own low-cost sewerage system.[citation needed] The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) refused to allow the sewer system to be connected to the existing city sewers because of Orangi's unauthorised status. However, KMC was forced to cooperate when the project attracted worldwide attention and similar projects were set up in three squatter settlements in the city of Sukkur in northern Sindh.[citation needed]
The federal government introduced local government reforms in the year 2000, which eliminated the previous third-tier of government (administrative divisions) and raised the fourth tier (districts) to become the new third tier. The effect in Karachi was the dissolution of the former Karachi Division and the merger of its five districts to form a new Karachi City-District with eighteen autonomous constituent towns including Orangi Town; a move which helped to better administer the area.
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Demography
There are several ethnic groups in Orangi Town including Muhajirs, Pakhtuns, Balochis, Ismailis, etc. A significant population of these Muhajirs are Biharis who migrated from Bihar in 1947 and East Pakistan in 1971.[4][5]Over 99% of the population is Muslim and 75% of the population is Muhajir, However local muslims are slowly being forced into these townships and cliams are made to save face by the Pakistani govrnement. Orangi town has a population of approximately 2.5 million although government records report that it had 700,000 inhabitants.[5] In last 15 years the Orangi Town's demography has substantially changed as Pakhtun fleeing the Taliban conflict in northern Pakistan have settled in this town in large numbers.[citation needed]
History
The population began to grow from 1965 onwards as a residential extension to the Sindh Industrial and Trading Estate (SITE).[citation needed] Orangi became famous in the 1980s when local inhabitants became frustrated at the lack of development in the area by the municipal administration and launched the Orangi Pilot Project under the guidance of Akhtar Hameed Khan.[citation needed] The Orangi area was the largest squatter settlement in Karachi at the time, so the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) did not extend services to the Orangi community.[6] The first action of the project was to demand that the KMC should install a sewerage system free of charge but this was refused because KMC did not recognise Orangi. The population mostly comprises blue-collar worker (factory workers) including a substantial Rohingya Muslim refugee community mainly from Burma.The local community financed, designed and built their own low-cost sewerage system.[citation needed] The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) refused to allow the sewer system to be connected to the existing city sewers because of Orangi's unauthorised status. However, KMC was forced to cooperate when the project attracted worldwide attention and similar projects were set up in three squatter settlements in the city of Sukkur in northern Sindh.[citation needed]
The federal government introduced local government reforms in the year 2000, which eliminated the previous third-tier of government (administrative divisions) and raised the fourth tier (districts) to become the new third tier. The effect in Karachi was the dissolution of the former Karachi Division and the merger of its five districts to form a new Karachi City-District with eighteen autonomous constituent towns including Orangi Town; a move which helped to better administer the area.
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