The Defence Housing Authority, Karachi, also known as the Pakistan Defence Officers Housing Authority or DHA, is an upscale real estate and property development organisation administered by the Pakistan Army which develops housing for current and retired military personnel. It is a suburban Housing development in metropolitan Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
History and administration
DHA Karachi was originally established by retired servicemen from the armed forces in the mid-fifties as a cooperative housing society. The office was inaugurated by Rear Admiral Haji Mohammad Siddiq Chaudhry, the first Pakistani Commander-in-Chief of the Pak Navy. In 1981, under the orders of then President of Pakistan Gen Zia-ul Haq, it was taken over by the government and was put under the control of the Corps Commander Karachi. The 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 8,852 acres (35.82 km2) 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 and does all acts and things which may be exercised or done by the Authority. The Administrator is the Executive Head of the Authority 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.
Korangi Road/National Highway: Korangi Road connects DHA to Shahrah-e-Faisal near the Finance and Trade Centre, Karachi on one side and Korangi Industrial Area on the other. It runs in Phase I and Phase II.
Sunset Boulevard: Sunset Boulevard connects DHA to Mai Kolachi on one side and meets Korangi Road on the other side. Sunset Boulevard runs in Phase II.
Khayaban-e-Shamsheer: Shamsheer meets up with Gizri Boulevard on one end and Beach Avenue on the other. It runs perpendicular to Khayaban-e-Hafiz. Landmarks on Shamsheer include the Saudi Embassy. It runs in Phase V.
Khayaban-e-Ittehad: Ittehad meets up with Korangi Road on one side and Seaview Road on the other. Khayaban-e-Ittehad curves shortly after its intersection with 5th street and from that point onwards, runs at an angle of 45 degrees from the vertical. It meets most of the roads that run in DHA. It runs in Phase VI, Phase VII & Phase VII.
Khayaban-e-Hafiz: Hafiz is continuous with Chaudri Khaliq-uz-Zaman Road on one side and goes deep into Phase VIII on the other side. Landmarks on Hafiz include the Saudi Embassy and the Sultan Masjid. Hafiz runs in Phase V, Phase VI and Phase VIII.
Khayaban-e-Shaheen: Shaheen runs parallel to Hafiz. It is continuous with Zamzama Boulevard on one side and passes through 'Creek City' on the other side. Landmarks on Shaheen include Shaikh Zaid's 'Mehel'. Shaheen runs in Phase V, Phase VI and Phase VIII
Gizri: Gizri is mainly a commercial road. Gizri is continuous with Khayaban-e-Hafiz on one side and Chaudry Khaliq-uz-Zaman Road on the other. Landmarks on Gizri include the 'Submarine Chowk'. Gizri has its own system of streets and lanes, known as the 'Gizri Streets' and 'Gizri Lanes'. It runs in Phase IV.
Zamzama: Zamzama is another commercial road that is continuous with Khayaban-e-Shaheen on one side and ends at 'Two Talwar' on the other side. Zamzama also has its own system of streets and lanes, known as 'Commercial lanes' (not to be confused with the commercial lanes in Phase IV) and 'Zamzama streets'. It runs in Phase V. Zamzama street is home to Karachi's most elite designer shops for clothes, shoes and accessories. It also has a number of high end restaurants and coffee shops which are popular hang out spots for the rich and the fashionable residing in the posh neighborhood of DHA
Khayaban-e-Bahria: Bahria runs perpendicular to Khayaban-e-Hafiz. It meets up with Khayaban-e-Ittehad on one side and Seaview Road on the other. Landmarks on Bahria include the Sultan Masjid. It runs in Phase V and Phase VII.
26th street: 26th street runs parallel to Khayaban-e-Hafiz. It meets up with Abdullah Shah Ghazi road/Shahrah-e-Firdousi on one side and goes deep into Phase VIII on the other. 26th street runs in Phase V, Phase VI and Phase VIII.
Seaview Road/Beach Avenue: Seaview Road runs along the sea, hence its name. Seaview Road connects Defence with Mai Kolachi on one side and goes deep into Phase VIII on the other side. Seaview Road runs in Phase V, Phase VI and Phase VIII.
Commercial Avenue: Commercial Avenue runs parallel to Khayaban-e-Hafiz. It meets up with Khayaban-e-Jami on one side and Khayaban-e-Ittehad on the other. Commercial Avenue has its own system of streets and lanes, known as 'Commercial Streets' and 'Commercial Lanes' (not to be confused with Zamzama's commercial lanes). Commercial Avenue is also known as the 'naalay walee sarak' (road with the drainage line) because a drain runs through the middle of the road. Landmarks on Commercial Avenue include the Imam Bargha and the DHA School Phase IV branch. Commercial Avenue runs through Phase IV and Phase VI.
Zulfiqar Street 1: Zulfiqar Street 1 starts at Khayaban-e-Ittehad and ends at Seaview Road. Creek Club, Marina Club, Carlton Hotel, Area 51 and Golf Club are all located on Zulfiqar Street 1. Zulfiqar Street 1 also meets up with Creek City. It runs through Phase VIII.
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, found in Phase IV; the Gizri streets and lanes, found in Phase IV; the Zamzama streets, found in Phase V; the South/Central/North streets, found in Phase I, Phase II and Phase II extension; and the Sunset streets and lanes, found in Phase II and Phase II extension.
Normal streets and lanes: In the normal system, streets and lanes are parallel to each other, with the exception of 26th lane, which runs at an angle to all the other lanes. Normal streets and lanes run parallel to Khayaban-e-Hafiz.
Commercial streets and lanes: Commercial streets run parallel to Commercial Avenue, while commercial lanes run perpendicular to Commercial Avenue. 5th Commercial Lane, 4th Commercial Lane, 2nd Commercial Lane and 1st Commercial Lane meet up with the Gizri system of streets and lanes.
Gizri streets and lanes: In the Gizri system, streets and lanes are perpendicular to each other, as would be expected. Gizri streets run parallel to Gizri Boulevard, while Gizri lanes run perpendicular to Gizri Boulevard. N lane, N Street, M Street, 1st Gizri Street, Gizri Avenue, 2nd Gizri Lane and 1st Gizri Lane all meet up with Commercial Avenue. Gizri Avenue also meets up with Gizri, and goes on to meet Zamzama as well.
Zamzama streets and lanes: Zamzama's streets have their own peculiarities: 12th Zamzama Street, 9th Zamzama Street and 1st Zamzama Street run perpendicular to Zamzama while the other Zamzama streets run parallel to it. 4th Zamzama street meets up with Two Talwar. 3rd Zamzama Street is continuous with Khayaban-e-Shujaat.
South/Central/North streets: The South/Central/North Streets run parallel to each other and perpendicular to Sunset Boulevard. South Streets run from Sunset Boulevard to South Circular Avenue, Central Streets run from South Circular Avenue till Sailor Street, and North Streets run from Korangi Road till the end of Phase I.
Sunset streets and lanes: Sunset streets run perpendicular to Sunset Boulevard while Sunset lanes run parallel to it.
The Defence Authority College of Business (DACB) is situated in DHA Phase-VI on 3rd Street off Khayaban-e-Sehar. The institution is affiliated with University of Karachi, one of the three Pakistani universities ranked among top 600 of the world. DACB was established in 2000. The college offers BBA and MBA programs. College maintains qualified faculty and excellent resources. It is one of the few institutions in Pakistan that provide top quality and cost-effective business education to outstanding candidates. 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 record, 15% got half-waiver and the rest paid a low fee subsidized by the Defence Authority. DACB being a public intuition is furthering the access of quality higher education in business to talented Pakistani youth.
Air Indus has its head office in the DHA.
