LAHORE, Feb 23: Encroachments continue to disrupt civic life in the provincial metropolis due to failure of the City District Government and six town administrations to launch an effective campaign against the menace.

Anyone can have an idea about the state of encroachments in the provincial metropolis by a comparison of the situation on city roads on normal working days and public holidays.

Traffic flows smoothly on all the roads in all parts of the city on public holidays whereas its smooth movement becomes impossible on working days due to encroachments which have become a permanent source of easy money for the town and district government officials responsible for their removal.

Millions of rupees are paid to the patrons of encroachments every month and nobody is allowed to encroach on a footpath or a road in any commercial area free of charge. The CDG and town officials have fixed rent for every encroachment in the provincial metropolis. They inform the shopkeepers in advance about any possible raid for removal of encroachments. The drama of encroachments’ removal, even if staged, lasts only for a few hours. Every encroachment is back soon after the raiding party has left.

Most of the encroachments are temporary in nature. Encroachments like display of merchandise in corridors and footpaths in front of the shops, crop up in congested commercial areas of the provincial metropolis with the start of the day and disappear with the closure of shopping centres in the evening after obstructing the movement of pedestrians and traffic throughout the day.

Unauthorised parking of vehicles on the road for repairs and maintenance or otherwise is another form of temporary encroachment which has been increasing in direct proportion to the increase in the number of cars owned by traders. Such encroachments exist mainly on Montgomery Road, Brandreth Road, Shah Alam Market Road, Circular Road, Anarkali Bazaar Road, Hall Road, McLeod Road, Wahdat Road, Chamberlain Road, Railway Road, Nabha Road, Davis Road and Abbot Road. Parking encroachments also appear only on the working days and are a serious traffic hazard.

The Parks and Horticulture Authority is also encouraging temporary encroachments by allowing conversion of roads in Gowalmandi Food Street and Old Anarkali Tourist Street into open-air restaurants after sunset.

Vendors also create temporary encroachments in all the busy markets and bazaars in the Walled City, outside Data Darbar, outside Badami Bagh General Bus Stand, outside Lahore Railway Station, Mozang, Krishan Nagar, Misri Shah, Garhi Shahu, Gowalmandi, Ichhra, Baghbanpura, Moghalpura, Multan Road and Amar Sadhu Chungi areas and Shahdara.

Vendors selling fruits on bicycles and donkey carts between AG’s Office Chowk and Jain Mandir Chowk, along Lytton Road, on Ravi Link Road between Taxali Gate Chowk and Azadi Chowk, along the Circular Road service lane between Urdu Bazaar Chowk and Bhati Chowk, along Multan Road between Choburji Chowk and Chauburji Quarters, also create temporary encroachments obstructing the smooth flow of traffic on all working days.

Temporary encroachments were a source of income for the civic authorities till early 1980s. Penal rent totalling millions of rupees per annum was recovered by the Tehbazaari staff from traders and pavements vendors for temporary encroachment. All such encroachments became a source of income for the Tehbazaari staff when some of the traders used the penal rent slips for obtaining stay orders and claiming tenancy rights and the defunct MCL decided not to allow temporary encroachments against payment of rent.

Around 40,000 temporary encroachments existed in the provincial metropolis when the defunct MCL decided to discontinue recovery of penal rent and disallow encroachment. Imposition of fines on those encroaching on footpaths and roads was adopted as an alternative source of revenue generation. Tehbazaari staff were also directed to continue raids in markets and bazaars and lift the goods being sold on pavements and roads. The goods were returned to owners after the recovery of fine.

Discontinuation of the recovery of penal rent deprived the civic body of the money that was recovered from traders and pavement vendors and made encroachments a source of regular income for the Tehbazaari staff. Tehbazaari officials continue to recover millions of rupees in the form of penal rent from every trader and vendor. Their patronage has allowed the encroachments to continue and multiply with the passage of time because they remove an encroachment only in case they are not paid the rent.

Abolition of the posts of executive magistrates — who used to conduct raids for removal of encroachments and imposed fines and even ordered imprisonment of those responsible — after the establishment of the City District Government is also cited as one of the reasons for the multiplication of encroachments. Nothing has, however, been done for the removal of encroachments by any of the City District Government and Town Municipal Administration officials given magisterial powers by the Punjab Government in recent past.

District Nazim Mian Amer Mahmud and District Coordination Officer Khalid Sultan recognize the existence of the problem and favour removal of encroachments but maintain that town administrators are responsible for tackling the problem under the Punjab Local Government Ordinance 2001. They have also been expressing the resolve of the City District Government to provide necessary assistance to the town administrations for solving the serious civic problem. All the six town Nazimeen are also against encroachments, but nobody is ready to bell the cat.

The DCO announced at his first meeting with newsmen after taking charge of his office in the second week of December that a campaign would be launched for removal of encroachments. The district Nazim also made an announcement in this respect last month. The matter is now to be discussed by the District Advisory Committee, which comprises the district Nazim, town Nazimeen and the DCO.