KARACHI, July 17: The municipal administration of the Lyari Town has started conducting a survey of public land being illegally occupied by unscrupulous persons and after collecting necessary data will recommend the city government to take action against the encroachers.
The survey work has already been carried out in the Darayabad, Nawabad union council areas besides Jekey Para where shops, workshops and other commercial establishments have been set up for many years and in some areas, parts of public land had been illegally converted into residential areas.
Town Nazim Malik Mohammad Fayyaz said after the removal of illegal structures, the vacant plots would be used for amenity purposes, adding that the commercial plots measuring hundreds of acres have been illegally occupied where they established their business ventures.
“We badly need land for development purposes to build parks, schools, colleges and community halls”, he argued, saying that we could save a vast area of land for amenity purposes if the CDC plots allotted for warehousing purposes in some parts of the town much before the creation of Pakistan and lease periods of many had been expired were not renewed and these plots may be used for amenity purposes.
He further stated that these warehouses exposing people to serious health hazards had been built in congested areas of the town and the area people hade been demanding for quite some time that warehousing business in the residential area be stopped.
A survey of the locality shows that most of these warehouses have been converted into small factories, where they produce plastic-made goods, soap, spices, confectionary and chemical items.
A CBO representative said these small industrial units had gone mushrooming in the areas due to the availability of cheap labour.
It is observed that a large number of teenagers are working in these units without any agreement or facility, and they were let off any time without any prior notice.
The worst hit areas are Rangiwara, Singoo Lane, Usmanabad and adjoining areas of Nawa Lane where people are facing a constant threat of skin and respiratory diseases
Area people say that most of these warehousing units had been granted temporary leases as far back as the 40s and 50s by the then collectorate but their terms of leases had been extended after every expiry period and they continued to operate on account of their high connections.
They said the lease period of some plots measuring hundreds of acres had expired recently but they were renewed once again.
