Baba and Bhit symbolise peace and tranquility

Believe it or not, there are such areas in the metropolis where crime rate has been zero for more than a decade and these areas are the twin islands off Keamari harbor.

Baba and Bhit are the twin islands spreading almost four square kilometers having a population of around 25 thousand people. Both the islands are located one and a half kilometers away from the Keamari harbor.

According to the locals, the islands are 350 years old and they have been living here for many generations. Katchi community is in the majority which composes 90 percent of total population and the rest are Baloch and Sindhis and other communities. A vast majority of people here are fishermen or attached to the fishing business.

Social worker and a resident of the island Hasan Bhatti said that there was no police chowki in Bhit island. However, the only police kiosk was present in the adjacent Baba Island but the police did not patrol on these islands.

To a question as to how does the community react to any untoward situation, Bhatti said there were minor incidents of conflicts on these islands. For instance, children or youth had quarrels over petty issues and these matters were solved in the Jirga held by elders in the community.

He said that the decision by the elders of Jirga was binding on all the parties participating in it and the community members. “First of all there is no crime on the islands, and if any petty theft or dispute occurred between two groups, it is solved in Jirga. Apart from it, there has been no major crime and as far as I remember, there was a murder reported from here almost 35 years ago”, he added.

PHOTOS: ATHAR KHAN/BOL NEWS

The area police also confirmed that the crime rate in these twin islands was negligible. “There are a few petty issues which are solved by communities themselves. People usually don’t come to us to report any complaint”, SHO Jackson police station Zulfiqar Bajwa said.

He said, “There has been no FIR registered from these islands in 15 to 20 years as far as I know.”

The inhabitants of these islands had a strong community system and they solved petty issues by themselves. They didn’t go to the police. They seldom reported the matter and the police also preferred to involve community elders in solving their problems. Overall these communities lived peacefully, the SHO added.

The only source of transportation from and to these twin islands are boats. These boats are being operated by fishermen as private transport facilities and charge 50 rupee per person (one side fare). All of the items like food, grocery, cold drinks, clothes, meat, vegetable, and other daily routine items are transported through boats including the construction material, furniture and other heavy equipment.

“Our drinking water is also transported by boats from the city as we don’t have any road connecting these islands to the main city”, Hasan Bhatti said.

He said these items become costly when they are transported by boats as the diesel prices and labour charges have gone up.

“For instance, if the construction cost of a room is one lakh, here in these islands the cost multiplies due to transportation and labour charges and the construction of one room costs around four lakh”, he claimed.

A water supply underwater pipeline was laid in the sea coming from Gulbai to Bhit and Baba islands in 2008. However, the water being supplied to these islands could not reach here daily because it was stolen and supplied to factories in SITE and Gulbai, Hasan Bhatti claimed.

The drinking water was supplied only one or two hours every ten days which was not enough for the water needs of the inhabitants of these islands. “We are forced to purchase clean water transported by boats at the rate of 120 rupees per barrel and a family needs at least two barrels of water a day.

The islands are littered with garbage and trash adversely affecting the environment. Hasan Bhatti said that the Solid Waste Management had taken notice of the garbage which was going into the sea destroying marine life as well.

An elder resident Bilal Ahmed said that the government had provided some spaces here for inhabitants for holding private or public functions but it did not make any system of lifting garbage from the islands which not only spread bad odor in the air but also endemics.

There is a rich forest of mangroves beside the islands which were necessary for marine life. Some species of fish, crabs, took shelter in the roots of mangroves during the breeding season but some people had started cutting the forest.

“I personally met with the officials of the government and the WWF and apprised them about the situation. I ask them to use their influence to stop cutting of mangroves forest”, he added.

PHOTOS: ATHAR KHAN/BOL NEWS

The most interesting thing about these islands is that no vehicles are seen on the islands. Apart from cars and motorbikes, even a bicycle could not be seen. This scribe walked for almost two hours in the island from one side to the other but did not find even a bicycle. A visit to the islands disclosed that all the inhabitants just walk and the majority of them are found slim and smart.

A resident Abdul Hameed said some of the fishermen had motorbikes and cars but they parked them in the parking lot in Keamari and did not bring them here because of transportation and there was not enough space to drive here on the islands.