• Five years after its demolition and despite SC’s order to build a public facility, the site of Aladdin Amusement Park remains a massive pile of rubble
• Citizens fear recreational facility ‘will never be built’
KARACHI: During most summer vacations, Rameen and her siblings would wake up early, eager for a picnic outing to the old Aladdin Amusement Park — a place that, for years, offered Karachiites a rare space for leisure and joy.
By the time they reached the site, the park’s charm would draw them in, quickening their heartbeats, which would not settle until their elders bought the entry tickets and they stepped inside the premises. Once inside, each child would rush towards a ride of their choice.
“I enjoyed the pirate ship ride the most,” Rameen recalled. “When it swung upwards, my heart would feel heavy and a loud scream would escape my mouth. It was frightening, but it was also great fun.”
Speaking to Dawn, she revisited those memories with nostalgia, lamenting that many of her childhood’s most joyful moments were tied to a place that has now been reduced to a site strewn with gravel, construction material and machinery, scrap from damaged pedestrian bridges and layers of dust.
The recreational facility was demolished in 2021 on the Supreme Court orders and has yet to be replaced by a public park.
Rameen said she wished to take her daughter to a similar place in Karachi, but added that no such space now exists in the metropolis.
“A perfectly good place where families spent their holidays and leisure time, where happiness was visible everywhere, and where watching children laugh and play brought peace to elders’ hearts, was demolished and left in ruins,” she said, questioning what the authorities had gained from destroying it. “In the end, it is ordinary people who have been left to bear the loss.”
The land where a public park existed, offering children space to play and adults and senior citizens facilities for walking and jogging, has instead turned into a hideout for drug addicts.
Nearby residents say drug users have made the area their dwelling, spreading foul odours and creating safety concerns. Passers-by, particularly women and children, face difficulties while passing through the site.
SC ordered demolition, construction of park
On June 14, 2021, the Supreme Court directed the Karachi administrator to immediately demolish Aladdin Amusement Park and Pavilion End Club and end all commercial activities within the designated park area, and a new public park be built there.
Later that year, on September 23, when the Karachi administration submitted a compliance report, the apex court made it clear that no private company would be allowed to operate on the land and that the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) alone would run it as a public park.
Yet, years after the demolition, there is still no sign of a park on the amenity land.
In a city rapidly turning into a concrete jungle and already short of recreational spaces, the failure to establish such a large public facility despite clear Supreme Court orders is widely seen as unfair to residents.
A KMC signboard reading “Bagh-i-Karachi” can still be spotted at the site. Beyond that, there is no trace of park infrastructure or recreational facilities.
The park now exists only in old photographs, videos and memories.
Residents of Gulshan-i-Iqbal express mixed, but largely pessimistic, views about the future of the park.
A senior resident of Block 10-A, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he believed the park “will never be built”.
“The land will be taken over under some pretext in the name of public interest, and commercial activity will return sooner or later,” he said.
“When the SC ordered the amusement facility to be demolished immediately and a new public park to be constructed there, why has it still not been rebuilt?” he asked.
Another elderly resident from Block 16 recalled visiting the site with his grandchildren about a year ago after seeing the KMC signboard. Instead of a park, he found construction machinery parked on the land.
“My heart sinks when I see the site’s current condition,” he said. “A place where thousands of people once gathered for recreation, which long served as a space of joy, now exists only in old photographs, videos and memories.”
He added that the authorities appeared to be showing no serious intent towards developing a new park.
Another resident described the area as a “hideout” for drug addicts.
“Only God knows when the park will be built,” he said. “And even if it is eventually constructed, it will not be the same, because providing such facilities for the public is clearly not a priority.”
A passer-by recalled how thousands once visited Aladdin Amusement Park on weekends, when the atmosphere was lively and festive.
“Now it has become a stronghold for drug users,” he said, adding that demolishing the amusement facility without rebuilding a public park had left locals distressed.
“What purpose was served by demolishing the old park when nothing replaced it?” he asked. “At least the Aladdin park gave people a space for recreation.”
A father of three said a large number of people used to visit the park daily, and shutting down such a large recreational space in a city already starved of parks was unjust.
A couple said their daughter, who has Down syndrome, used to visit the park at least twice a week and found great joy in the swings. “Now we go to another park in the same locality,” they said, “but it is much smaller and does not bring her the same happiness.”
Site for BRT Red Line construction material
Visiting the land, Dawn observed that the site is currently being used for the preparation of construction material for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Red Line project.
An official present at the camp office on the site informed that the land is being used to prepare material for the Red Line and that they will stay there until work is completed.
Now it remains to be seen when the delays that have stalled the project for years will be resolved and when the promised public park will finally take shape.
For residents, particularly those who grew up visiting Aladdin Amusement Park and now hope to share similar experiences with their children, the empty land stands not only as a reminder of a lost recreational space, but also of commitments yet to be fulfilled.
Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2026
