Machar Colony مچھر کالونی মাছাব় কলোনি | |
|---|---|
 | |
| District | Karachi West |
| City | Karachi |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Population | |
• Total | 700,000 |
| Time zone | UTC+5 (PST) |
Machar Colony (Urdu:مچھر کالونی) ( মাছাব় কলোনি) orMachiara Colony/Mohammadi Colony (Urdu:/محمد ی کالونی مچھیرا کالونی) is an unplanned settlement inKarachi,Pakistan, located near thePort of Karachi and Harbour Kemari. The settlement is spread over an area of almost 4 square kilometers,[1] and is home to about 700,000 people.[2] It is considered to be one of the most dilapidated slums in Karachi.[3] Many people are undocumented because there are not gave citizenship by the government of Pakistan, therefore many people are jobless.
Most people in the neighborhood are involved in thefishing industry and consequently the area is also known asFisherman's Colony, with the word Machar derived from the Sindhi word for fishermanmachera.[4] Residents of Machar Colony are employed by the fishing industry as shrimp peelers, fishermen, fish cleaners, or labourers in theship breaking industry.[5] Some of their homes are built on stilts over the water.[6] The few flourishing businessmen that the colony has produced are in the fishing business, which is almost exclusively dominated by the Bengalis. A large majority of residents are PakistaniBengalis,[3] although there are minorities ofAfghans,Kutchis,Pashtuns,Punjabis,Rohingya,[7] andSindhis.[4]
Machar Colony, one of Karachi's largest slums that is home to an estimated 700,000 people.
One of the poorest and most dilapidated slums in the metropolis of Karachi, Machar Colony is home for hundreds and thousands of families associated with the profession of cleaning shrimp for the nearby port fisheries, with a large majority of Bengali immigrants.
24°52′N66°59′E / 24.867°N 66.983°E /24.867; 66.983
