23 February 2004	Monday	02 Muharram 1425

KARACHI, Feb 22: The Saddar Town administration is busy these days reducing the width of footpaths of some important and busy roads such as Shahrah-i-Liaquat and Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road , instead of keeping them clear from all sorts of encroachment.

Footpath curtailing work is being carried out in the name of widening or beautification of the roads. Besides, a major portion of Mohammad Bin Qasim Road (formerly known as Burnes Road) has been lying in dilapidated condition since long, causing inconvenience to the motorists proceeding either towards D. J. Science College or Fresco Chowk. The road has heavily encroached upon too.

Some ice-cream parlours, which had sprung up on either side of the road, have subscribed to the novel idea of serving customers right in the middle of a road where they put up a large number of chairs and tables, thereby illegally occupying more than one track of the road. Much of the remaining width of the road is grabbed by vendors selling pan, edibles, household articles, etc.

On the one hand, a major portion of the six-track Mohammad Bin Qasim Road has been reduced to hardly two tracks because of heavy encroachments and, on the other, one of its footpath (from Fresco Chowk to Jamia Cloth Market) has already vanished owing to the encroachment by illegal shops operators.

Pedestrians and visitors of the nearby Jamia Cloth Market have, in this situation, no choice but to walk along the Mohammad Bin Qasim Road amidst heavy vehicular traffic. A number of accidents have already occurred near the market.

SHAHRAH-I-LIAQUAT: A visit to Shahrah-i-Liaquat (formerly known as Frere Road) revealed that the width of one of its two footpaths had been reduced from 10 feet to just three.

Similarly, width of a portion of a footpath of Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road, near Muslim Gymkhana, has been curtailed due to a 'piece of art' created with the help of grass and tiny plants at the place and inscribed with words 'Saddar Town Nazim'.

The idea is sponsored by officials of the Saddar Town and seems to be a bid to please the Nazim, though the officials may not have realized how much inconvenience it was causing now to the general public, especially pedestrians.

The portion of the road linked to the footpath is not only a blind turning but thousands of speeding vehicles do take a turn from here towards the Aiwan-i-Saddar.

Terming the Saddar Town's move 'uncalled for and unlawful' people residing in the apartment buildings, situated in and around Burnes Road area, said that the town administration, it seemed, was bent upon usurping the rights of pedestrians by curtailing footpaths, instead of removing encroachments which had spread along Burnes Road and Shahrah-i-Liaquat.

Lashing out at the town officials for implementing an unwise decision of reducing the width of footpaths, they said that the officials and Nazims of the town seemed helpless in removing the encroachments on footpaths and roads which had illegally been occupied by the operators of barbecue and fast food restaurants.

These encroachers, they added, had not only put up chairs and tables on the footpaths but had also kept sizzling ovens and huge utensils used for steam Chargha on roadsides.

Owner of a chicken house and a fruit seller have broken all record of encroaching upon public place as both of them had not only placed their paraphernalia on footpaths but also covered the entire width of the footpath by putting up chicken cages and fruits containers on it.

Almost a similar situation can be witnessed at Haqqani Chowk where owner of a hotel has literally covered the entire footpath in front of his establishment, using the encroached upon footpath for cooking purposes. Pedestrians have been compelled to walk on the busy road and expose themselves to accidents.