DEFENCE HOUSING AUTHORITY KARACHI
THE DHA
(DEFENCE HOUSING AUTHORITY)
KARACHI
The Defence Housing Authority,
Karachi, also known as the
Pakistan Defence Officers
Housing Authority, Karachi, or
DHA, Karachi, is the foremost
development in Pakistan with
many exclusive projects to its
credit. The biggest setup of its
kind in Asia, today DHA is
considered to be the first
choice residential area for the
affluent of Pakistan.
HISTORY
AND ADMINISTRATION
The Authority came into
existence through Presidential
Order No.7 of 1980 and was later
approved by the National
Assembly of Pakistan. The
Authority is spread over 8852
acres and provides civic
facilities to millions of
residents. The efforts to
develop DHA have been fruitful,
signified by growth oriented
high class living values.
The housing projects are planned
to cover every aspect of healthy
living and contain beautiful
parks, excellent educational
institutions and modern clubs.
The organizational matters are
well attended by Secretary,
Chief Engineer, Directors and a
committed and dedicated work
force to ensure smooth running
of the organization.
The functioning of the Authority
is vested in the two bodies,
namely the Governing body headed
by Secretary Ministry of Defence
and Executive Board Headed by
the Corps Commander Posted at
Karachi. The Executive Board
exercises all administrative,
executive and financial powers
and does all acts and things
which may be exercised or done
by the Authority. The
Administrator is the Executive
Head of the Authority and
exercises all executive powers,
delegation or otherwise, in
accordance with the policy laid
down by the Governing Body and
the directions or decisions of
the Executive Board. Despite its
tall claims, the fact of the
matter is that it has failed to
develop Phase 8 in last three
decades and has mostly used this
phase for fleecing money from
the investors and residents.
MAJOR
ROADS
Korangi
Road/National Highway:
Korangi Road connects DHA to
Shahrah-e-Faisal near the
Finance and Trade Centre,
Karachi on one side and Korangi
Industrial Area on the other. It
runs in Phase I and Phase II.
Sunset Boulevard:
Sunset Boulevard connects DHA to
Mai Kolachi on one side and
meets Korangi Road on the other
side. Sunset Boulevard runs in
Phase II.
Khayaban-e-Shamsheer:
Shamsheer meets up with Gizri
Boulevard on one end and Beach
Avenue on the other. It runs
perpendicular to Khayaban-e-Hafiz.
Landmarks on Shamsheer include
the Saudi Embassy. It runs in
Phase V.
Khayaban-e-Ittehad:
Ittehad meets up with Korangi
Road on one side and Seaview
Road on the other.
Khayaban-e-Ittehad curves
shortly after its intersection
with 5th street and from that
point onwards, runs at an angle
of 45 degrees from the vertical.
It meets most of the roads that
run in DHA. It runs in Phase VI,
Phase VII & Phase VII.
Khayaban-e-Hafiz:
Hafiz is continuous with Chaudri
Khaliq-uz-Zaman Road on one side
and goes deep into Phase VIII on
the other side. Landmarks on
Hafiz include the Saudi Embassy
and the Sultan Masjid. Hafiz
runs in Phase V, Phase VI and
Phase VIII.
Khayaban-e-Shaheen:
Shaheen runs parallel to Hafiz.
It is continuous with Zamzama
Boulevard on one side and passes
through 'Creek City' on the
other side. Landmarks on Shaheen
include Shaikh Zaid's 'Mehel'.
Shaheen runs in Phase V, Phase
VI and Phase VIII
Gizri: Gizri is
mainly a commercial road. Gizri
is continuous with Khayaban-e-Hafiz
on one side and Chaudry
Khaliq-uz-Zaman Road on the
other. Landmarks on Gizri
include the 'Submarine Chowk'.
Gizri has its own system of
streets and lanes, known as the
'Gizri Streets' and 'Gizri
Lanes'. It runs in Phase IV.
Zamzama:
Zamzama is another commercial
road that is continuous with
Khayaban-e-Shaheen on one side
and ends at 'Two Talwar' on the
other side. Zamzama also has its
own system of streets and lanes,
known as 'Commercial lanes' (not
to be confused with the
commercial lanes in Phase IV)
and 'Zamzama streets'. It runs
in Phase V.
Khayaban-e-Bahria:
Bahria runs perpendicular to
Khayaban-e-Hafiz. It meets up
with Khayaban-e-Ittehad on one
side and Seaview Road on the
other. Landmarks on Bahria
include the Sultan Masjid. It
runs in Phase V and Phase VII.
26th
street: 26th street
runs parallel to Khayaban-e-Hafiz.
It meets up with Abdullah Shah
Ghazi road/Shahrah-e-Firdousi on
one side and goes deep into
Phase VIII on the other. 26th
street runs in Phase V, Phase VI
and Phase VIII.
Seaview
Road/Beach Avenue:
Seaview Road runs along the sea,
hence its name. Seaview Road
connects Defence with Mai
Kolachi on one side and goes
deep into Phase VIII on the
other side. Seaview Road runs in
Phase V, Phase VI and Phase
VIII.
Commercial Avenue:
Commercial Avenue runs parallel
to Khayaban-e-Hafiz. It meets up
with Khayaban-e-Jami on one side
and Khayaban-e-Ittehad on the
other. Commercial Avenue has its
own system of streets and lanes,
known as 'Commercial Streets'
and 'Commercial Lanes' (not to
be confused with Zamzama's
commercial lanes). Commercial
Avenue is also known as the 'naalay
walee sarak' (road with the
drainage line) due to the fact
that a drain runs through the
middle of the road. Landmarks on
Commercial Avenue include the
Imam Bargha and the DHA School
Phase IV branch. Commercial
Avenue runs through Phase IV and
Phase VI.
Zulfiqar Street 1:
Zulfiqar Street 1 starts at
Khayaban-e-Ittehad and ends at
Seaview Road. Creek Club, Marina
Club, Carlton Hotel, Area 51 and
Golf Club are all located on
Zulfiqar Street 1. Zulfiqar
Street 1 also meets up with
Creek City. It runs through
Phase VIII.
SYSTEM
OF STREETS AND LANES
There
are six main systems of streets
and lanes in DHA: the
normal streets and lanes, found
in Phase IV, V, VI, VII and
VIII; the commercial streets and
lanes, found in Phase IV; the
Gizri streets and lanes, found
in Phase IV; the Zamzama
streets, found in Phase V; the
South/Central/North streets,
found in Phase I, Phase II and
Phase II extension; and the
Sunset streets and lanes, found
in Phase II and Phase II
extension.
Normal
streets and lanes: In
the normal system, streets and
lanes are parallel to each
other, with the exception of
26th lane, which runs at an
angle to all the other lanes.
Normal streets and lanes run
parallel to Khayaban-e-Hafiz.
Commercial streets and lanes:
Commercial streets run parallel
to Commercial Avenue, while
commercial lanes run
perpendicular to Commercial
Avenue. 5th Commercial Lane, 4th
Commercial Lane, 2nd Commercial
Lane and 1st Commercial Lane
meet up with the Gizri system of
streets and lanes.
Gizri
streets and lanes: In
the Gizri system, streets and
lanes are parallel to each
other, as would be expected.
Gizri streets run parallel to
Gizri Boulevard, while Gizri
lanes run perpendicular to Gizri
Boulevard. N lane, N Street, M
Street, 1st Gizri Street, Gizri
Avenue, 2nd Gizri Lane and 1st
Gizri Lane all meet up with
Commercial Avenue. Gizri Avenue
also meets up with Gizri, and
goes on to meet Zamzama as well.
Zamzama
streets and lanes:
Zamzama's streets have their own
peculiarities: 12th Zamzama
Street, 9th Zamzama Street and
1st Zamzama Street run
perpendicular to Zamzama while
the other Zamzama streets run
parallel to it. 4th Zamzama
street meets up with Two Talwar.
3rd Zamzama Street is continuous
with Khayaban-e-Shujaat.
South/Central/North streets:
The South/Central/North Streets
run parallel to each other and
perpendicular to Sunset
Boulevard. South Streets run
from Sunset Boulevard to South
Circular Avenue, Central Streets
run from South Circular Avenue
till Sailor Street, and North
Streets run from Korangi Road
till the end of Phase I.
Sunset
streets and lanes:
Sunset streets run perpendicular
to Sunset Boulevard while Sunset
lanes run parallel to it.
