Mass migration affecting Abbottabad’s demographic balance

ABBOTTABAD: At least three mass migrations from various areas to Abbottabad during the last 10 years have added to problems and the city is on the verge of facing demographic imbalance – a dangerous reality indeed.
The Abbottabad city received thousands of migrants from Balakot, Mansehra and Azad Kashmir after the devastating earthquake of October 2005. Dozens of NGOs established their offices in the city in buildings rented on exorbitant rates.
This resulted in an increase of rents, which went well beyond the means of a middle-class family. Prices of real estate, as well as the crime rate, also went up.
Military operations Rah-e-Rast and Rah-e Nijat in Swat and South Waziristan that started in May and June 2009, respectively, was another factor for mass migration to Abbottabad.
Initially, the camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) were established but soon well-off from among the displaced families managed their own living in Abbottabad; either they rented houses or built their own.
The recent mass migration started with Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan as countless unregistered people from Fata and Frontier Regions have settled in Abbottabad and its surroundings. Scores of people have moved from Karachi recently and chose Abbottabad as their second home.
Interestingly, none of the universities, including Hazara University Mansehra and Haripur University, nor the state-run postgraduate colleges for men or for women in the area have conducted any study or survey over the imminent demographic changes and its possible effects on Abbottabad.
This scribe has spoken to at least three social and political scientists, serving in government institutions on the issue but none had any idea about the mass scale migration to Abbottabad and its consequences. And none of them wanted to be named.
The Police Department and local administration do not have any consolidated data of those who have settled in Abbottabad during the last 10 years.
A registration campaign was launched to register tenants earlier this year under Tenants Registration Act of KP. This drive has also fizzled out. Due to the mass migration, Abbottabad has become an overpopulated city lacking basic amenities like potable water, adequate roads and sewerage system.
Due to over-crowdedness, roads in the city have become narrower. Hours of traffic jams on main Mansehra Road, which is part of Karakoram Highway, Murree Road and Nawan Sheher road have become routine.
Prof Abdul Wahid, an educationist and social scientist, attributed the mass migration phenomenon to the ideal climate, peaceful atmosphere, low crime rate and quality educational institutions of Abbottabad.
“This is not the case of migration of rural to urban areas. In fact, this should be viewed as exodus from conflict zones to peaceful areas. People have migrated to other areas too but their presence here in Abbottabad is conspicuous because of city’s small size,” he added.