Karachi is facing a massive land corruption crisis as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has uncovered a shocking Rs. 3 trillion scam involving fake land records. According to NAB Chairman Lt Gen (rtd) Nazir Ahmed Butt, around 7,500 acres of land in the city were fraudulently documented, leading to large-scale corruption.
Speaking at a meeting with the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD), the NAB chief warned that opening these fraudulent files could lead to major unrest. He pointed fingers at key government authorities, including the Lyari Development Authority (LDA), Karachi Development Authority (KDA), and Malir Development Authority (MDA), for their failure to hand over land to rightful owners for the past 40 years.
The situation in Karachi’s real estate sector is alarming. ABAD chief Muhammad Hassan Bakhshi revealed that in the past five years, around 85,000 illegal buildings have been constructed. He accused the Sindh government of selling land to selected individuals instead of following a fair auction process. NAB is now collecting evidence to determine whether these illegally built structures should be demolished or legalized.
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This is not the only large-scale land fraud case in Sindh. The NAB chairman disclosed that over the last eight months, the agency recovered 1.8 million acres of agricultural land worth Rs. 4 trillion. This recovered land has now been handed over to the Revenue Department. However, he pointed out that Sindh lacks a centralized land record system, making it easier for corrupt officials to manipulate property ownership records. NAB is now working to address this issue.
To further combat land scams, NAB has also announced plans to open a regional office in Gwadar, where corruption cases worth Rs. 3 trillion are under investigation.
ABAD’s Patron-in-Chief, Mohsin Sheikhani, suggested that all land transactions should be verified by NAB. He also called for third-party digitization of land records to prevent manipulation. According to him, government institutions involved in corruption must be held accountable to stop further fraud.
This large-scale corruption in Karachi’s land sector highlights the urgent need for a transparent and modernized system to track property records. With NAB’s active involvement, Karachi residents are hoping for reforms that will ensure fair land distribution and protect people from fraudulent property dealings.
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