12 February 2004	Thursday	20 Zilhaj 1424

KARACHI, Feb 11: Getting encouraged with the Gulberg Town Administration's trend of constructing cabins on footpaths in Karimabad's busy Meena Bazaar and Bazaar-i-Faisal , around dozen of shops have now sprung up on the pavement of North Nazimabad's Nagan Chowrangi.

Concerned citizens apprehend that if the illegal and uncivilized act of setting up cabins with the patronage of town administration was not checked and stopped forthwith, the other town administrations would also follow the suit. In their bid to generate funds, the pedestrians would have no choice but to walk on roads amidst vehicular traffic risking their lives.

Already a number of footpaths of the city had already vanished. Some of these are situated on Mohammad Bin Qasim Road (from Fresco Chowk to Jamia Cloth Market), Eidgah bus stop and all around Urdu Bazaar in Saddar Town's jurisdiction; Karimabad's Bazaar-i-Faisal and Meena Bazaar and along main Sharah-i-Pakistan (from Naseerabad to Water pump traffic intersection) in Gulberg Town and all along main University Road (from Hassan Square to Federal Urdu University Science campus) in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town.

During a visit to Shaheed-i-Millat Road one would surprise to note that there is no footpath available for pedestrians on either of its sides, as the number of nurseries had sprung up on both the sides of the road.

Here one can see commuters standing on the left track of the road to catch hold of minibuses and coaches for their respective destinations. Almost a similar situation can been seen at the busy Eidgah bus stop because its footpath have been heavily encroached upon by pan shops.

Tracing the history of footpaths encroached upon for trade activities, a senior official of the city government said that as a matter of fact it was the former administrator of the defunct KMC who had legitimized business on footpaths.

The official said that the defunct KMC administrator had permitted some shopkeepers to do their business of barbecues, fast food and hotels on footpaths after receiving 'Land Use Charges' from them.

The traders, after paying the nominal amount to the defunct KMC, had taken it for granted that the entire space in and around the stalls allotted to them could be annexed without violating any rule or law of the land.

Besides, asserting their 'ownership' of the stalls, they most often bring in tables, chairs and other furniture and paraphernalia to occupy as much space as they can around their stalls and thus leaving almost no space on footpaths for people other than their customers.

Following the footsteps of the former administrator, the Gulberg Town's administration allowed establishment of over 170 cabins on the main footpaths of busy Meena Bazaar and Bazaar-i- Faisal, thereby giving legal cover to the food stalls and shops set up on footpaths.

Lashing out at the Gulberg Town Administration, the concerned citizens pointed out that since footpaths were meant exclusive for pedestrians, there could be no justification for the permission granted to land-grabbers by the Gulberg Town administration because such an act amounts to depriving general public of their rights.

A resident of the area said, "Can't the nazim and officials of Gulberg Town realize that with the setting up cabins on the footpaths of Karimabad, the ultimate sufferers are pedestrians, particularly women and children.

The pedestrians are often seen either walking in a zig-zag manner on the footpaths or walking on the adjacent busy roads amidst heavy vehicular traffic," he said.

Admitting that the city government has been a silent spectator with regard to cabins on encroached footpaths, the officials said that if the city government did not stop the illegal trend, the land-grabbing mafia would be encouraged to convert more footpaths into business places. This would ultimately force the pedestrians to walk on roads and become victim of some rash and recklessly-driven vehicles, they added.