In the 60s Ahmed Rushdi’s famous song “Bunder Road se Keamari, Chali Chali Rey Meri Ghora Gari, Babu Hojana Footpath Parr” became a huge hit. Back then, Bunder Road, now known as M.A. Jinnah Road, was a completely different street. It had a tram by which passengers commuted up to Karachi Cantonment. In a very leisurely way, students and young people would climb down from it while it was still moving since its speed was quite low.
The municipal administration then also allowed the almost extinct Victoria (now) to ply the road since there was ample space. One could also find scores of people going to their workplace on bicycles and a large number of them could get their meals from home during lunch hours through deliverymen who transported dozens of tiffin boxes from homes to offices on their bicycles for a small amount of money.
One of the busiest roads in megapolis that is Karachi, the street got its name owing to the fact that it goes straight to the port — Bundergah. On this street were the barracks called Jacob Lines built during the British era inhabited by the middle class. These beautiful and spacious barracks were razed to the ground and replaced by ugly structures later. In fact, several buildings in Parsee Colony, that was previously considered to be an upscale part of town, have been replaced by gas stations and clinics. Ahead of the Khandawala Building, a vast stretch of land that once housed government quarters has also been razed to ground – nobody knows what will become of the land now.
While the pink-coloured building housing the Philips Company still stands tall on M.A. Jinnah Road, the famous Zelin Coffee House that was frequented by writers, poets, intellectuals and students does not exist anymore and has been replaced by Bank Al-Falah.
M.A. Jinnah Road has also the distinction of some of the finest buildings built in the colonial period. Some of them have been declared heritage buildings. These include Theosophical Hall, Denso Hall, Khaliqdina Hall, Mama Parsi School, NJV High School, Radio Pakistan Building, Richmand Crawford Veterinary Hospital, Dow Medical College, to name a few.
The Theosophical Hall and Khaliqdina Hall back then were bustling with activity and student, political and literary organisations held their meetings there. The Khaliqdina Hall has witnessed many historical events. This includes the trial of freedom fighters Maulana Mohammad Ali Johar and Maulana Shaukat Ali on charges of sedition for their participation in the Khilafat Movement. Yet another significant aspect of the historic building that came into being in 1906 is that Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah presided over the Muslim League session in this hall after Pakistan came into being in 1947.
However, heritage buildings today are in bad shape. The majestic Banyan trees on M.A. Jinnah Road have been chopped down by the authorities never to be replaced by any other treets. “Even if it was necessary to chop off Banyan trees due to space constraints, they could have been replaced by Rain tree, Karachi Badam, Gold Mohar and Amaltas,” Shams-ul-Haq Memon, former secretary Sindh Wildlife and Forest Department told The News.
“M.A. Jinnah Road and I.I. Chundrigar Road in Karachi have the maximum vehicular and nose pollution in the city and Karachi is now included among the cities that top green house emissions,” he said.
Memon said though there is no more space to undertake plantation on M.A. Jinnah Road, many buildings on the road do have spaces where these trees can be planted to make the road beautiful.
One wonders if the City District Government Karachi will pay heed to these suggestions by experts.
