KARACHI, Sept 1: A 60-feet-wide green-belt along a major road in Shah Faisal Colony has been handed over to private parties for commercial use depriving area people of the much-needed greenery.

The green-belt was allowed to be used during the tenure of a former nazim of Shah Faisal Colony amid hue and cry raised by the area people. Although inquiries were conducted in the past, nothing materialized and the matter had been put on the backburner by town authorities.

A visit to the site revealed that at least seven marriage lawns had been set up on the green-belt. The lawns remain busy throughout the week, and they also set up temporary entrances on the main road between Drig Colony No 3 and 5, creating traffic jams in the evening.

Those coming to attend marriage parties also park their vehicles on the road, adding miseries to the area people.

The organisers of the marriage lawns have also raised boundary walls and set up offices where bookings are made on a regular basis.

Area residents have expressed concern over the setting up of the marriage lawns, which, they said, had been given on political considerations. They demanded probe into the matter by the local government commission and said that misuse of green-belt be stopped immediately.

They said instead of allowing commercial use of the green-helt, a project be conceived by the city government where a park could be developed for providing recreation facilities. They said that caterers serving food in the marriage lawns utilized the place around the lawns.

The area residents have also urged the authorities to withdraw permission, if granted, to any of the party for commercial use of the green-belt as it might result in the commercialization of the green-belt which had no parallel in the local bodies’ history.

They further demanded that the newly elected nazims should do something concrete for the betterment of the locality and repair the roads at the earliest and solve the transport problem in the locality.

An NGO activist, Ibahim, told Dawn that no major development work was initiated in Shah Faisal Colony during the last decade and the people had been facing numerous problems, including shortage of water, absence of health schemes, encroachment, and sewerage problems.