KARACHI, July 3: Elsewhere in the city, goods transporters in Saddar, Lyari, Keamari and SITE towns are continuing their business as usual in residential areas of these towns, flouting all administrative orders, a survey shows.
Presently, Saddar Town’s Lea Market area, Lyari’s Haat Chowk and Mirza Adam Khan Road, Keamari Town’s Mauripur Road and Lyari Express project site in SITE are the hub of transport activity of goods carriers and established mini-bus stands and terminuses in residential areas.
For quite a long time, the people of residential of these localities have been protesting, demanding the shifting of transporters from residential areas.
They said these transporters had already been provided plots at the main Hawkesbay Road to run their business in the outskirt of the city.
Despite the fact that orders were repeatedly issued to the transporters regarding shifting of their businesses, they are unwilling to move from their present sites.
They are availing all facilities provided to them at the new site at Hawkesbay and the old sites.
Saddar and Lyari town administrations had launched several cleanup operations top remove illegally established roadside terminuses in Lea Market and other areas, but these operations could not prove successful because of powerful transport mafia.
Everytime the administration came under the pressure of strong mafia and had to put off their operation plan.
A visit to Mauripur Road, Mirza Adam Road, Haat Chowk, Chawkiwara, Lea Market and old town areas shows that goods carriers are doing business as usual.
Despite the shifting of truck stand from Mauripur Road, the transporters continue to park their vehicles on both sides of Mauripur Road and Mirza Adam Khan Road, the Lyari Expressway project site.
In March last, the Lyari Town administration took a decision to shift the transport business from the residential areas business, particularly adjoining areas of Haat Chowk and Chawkiwara.
The campaign totally failed as owners of goods carriers refused to shift their businesses from residential sites.
The town officials admitted that the transporters had ignored the call and were unwilling to cooperate with the administration.
They also conceded that the operation of goods-carriers in the residential areas had been posing a great health hazard and were damaging road networks and other utility services.
Earlier in January, the administration issued a strong warning to the transporters to shift their businesses from residential areas since the business had become a public nuisance.
Despite this, the goods carriers continued to operate in major arteries of the town such as Lea Market, Sheedi village, Chawkiwara, Mewashah Road and Shah Waliullah Road.
Not only that after the operation of Saddar Town against these transporters, the volume of transport activity in the locality has increased as some of the transporters have opened their new booking offices in the locality.
“This situation is a great source of concern”, remarked a community leader, saying that “the locality has been reigned by a trio mafia land, transport mafia and corrupt officials.”
The representatives of these community based organisations have been pressing the government to immediately shift the transport business from the residential areas to save the people from pollution.
