Defence Housing Authority, Karachi


Defence Housing Authority, Karachi, formerly Pakistan Defence Officers Cooperative Housing Society, is a wealthy neighbourhood located within Clifton Cantonment of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Although part of Karachi City District, Defence is actually governed directly by the Clifton Cantonment Board. The neighbourhood is divided into several subdivisions or "phases". It was originally established for military personnel by the Armed Forces of Pakistan Welfare Department in 1980. Today Defence serves as one of Karachi's most affluent neighbourhoods.
Defence is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Defence Housing Authority. The DHA serves as the administrative authority only.

History

Defence was originally established by retired servicemen from the armed forces in the mid-1950s as a cooperative housing society. The office was inaugurated by Rear Admiral Haji Mohammad Siddiq Chaudhry, the first Pakistani Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistani Navy. In 1981, under the orders of President Gen Zia-ul Haq, it was taken over by the government and was put under the control of the Corps Commander Karachi. 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 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 parks, educational institutions and clubs. The organizational matters are attended by Secretary, Chief Engineer, Directors and a committed and work force to ensure smooth running of the organization.
The functioning of the authority is vested in the two bodies: 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. The Administrator is the executive head 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.

Subdivisions

Defence is divided into 8 subdivisions, which each phase being subdivided further into blocks and sectors. Each phase also has a central commercial area to cater to the local community. Housing construction began from Defence I and proliferated east and south towards what is today Defence VIII. Housing plots range from five marla to 2 kanals. The Karachi Defence Housing Authority building is located at 2-B, East Street, Defence I.
PhaseDefence IDefence IIDefence IIIDefence IVDefence VDefence VIDefence VIIDefence VIII

Transport

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 in Phase IV; the Gizri streets and lanes in Phase IV; the Zamzama streets in Phase V; the South/Central/North streets, found in Phase I, II, and Phase II extension; and the Sunset streets and lane, found in Phase II and Phase II extension.
The Defence Authority College of Business is situated in DHA Phase-VI on 3rd Street off Khayaban-e-Sehar. It is affiliated with University of Karachi, one of the three Pakistani universities ranked among top 600 of the world. The college was established in 2000 and offers BBA and MBA programs. In 2008/09, the college accepted only 220 candidates of which roughly 40% got full waiver of tuition fee by virtue of their past scholastic records, 15% got half-waiver and the rest paid a low fee subsidized by the Defence Authority. The college is a public intuition.

Economy

has its head office in the DHA.