KARACHI: Once a notorious junkyard infested with drug addicts and dangerous characters, the space beneath Lilly Bridge in Karachi has undergone a remarkable transformation. In just three months, the area has been reborn as a vibrant sports arena, where young people from nearby neighborhoods gather during Ramadan to play until Sahoor.
This revitalization is part of a larger trend in the region, with similar under-bridge sports facilities popping up in Mumbai, India, which also inspired local officials in Pakistan to follow suit.
On April 1, former administrator of Karachi, Murtaza Wahab, shared a video on social media wherein he can be seen playing under the bridge.
“It was a junkyard, or you can say a garbage dump, where unwanted people took refuge,” said Syed Najmi Alam, a local leader and Pakistan Peoples Party’s candidate for the post of mayor in Karachi. “This area was a mess. Now, all the residents are happy. The young people in my area are happy.”
Karachi, a Pakistani megacity with a population of 1.6 million, has faced a shortage of playgrounds in recent years. Over the last two decades, shops and houses encroached most of the areas dedicated to sports in the city. Those that were left were used to dump municipal waste.
“I played a cricket match at Majid Ashraf Park in North Nazimabad,” Alam recalled. “Now, there are only houses over there. It’s bad for the city.”
He added that young residents of Karachi had the right to get more sports facilities.
Speaking to Arab News, Zaid Faraz, an 18-year-old student said the newly transformed space under the bridge would provide young people the opportunity to improve their athletic abilities.
“I strongly believe that there should be greater number of playgrounds like these,” he said.
Anas Rehman, another resident of the area, said he used to go far from his residence to play with his friends, adding the sports arena under the bridge was only a five-minute walk from his house.
“It is a very good place,” he said. “People from many different neighborhoods in the city have also started coming over here to play.”
According to a local official, Hanan Bhutto, the sports arena beneath the Lilly Bridge had served as an inspiration for authorities in other parts of the city to build similar spaces.
He said a school had been established under another bridge in Karachi after the authorities cleared the encroachments from the area.
Hazim Bangwar, another official in North Nazimabad, is currently working on a similar sports facility in the neighborhood.
Bhutto said the space under the Lilly Bridge was suitable to play several games like cricket, futsal, badminton and basketball.
“There is also a facility for women on the other side of the bridge,” he said.
