September 16, 2007	Sunday	Ramazan 03, 1428

SHEIKHUPURA, Sept 15: The menace of encroaching public land and busy roads is going on unchecked.

Though the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) launched many drives to remove the encroachments from public places and roads, none of the effort bore fruit as politically connected people jumped in to rescue the grabbers, leaving the city in a mess.

According to citizens, the tehsil nazim seems helpless against political pressure. Besides, TMA officials working under nazim’s nose are protecting the encroachment mafia by accepting illegal gratification, and all this is going on unchecked.

Besides encroachments, illegal bus, wagon and rickshaw stands on several roads, particularly on Lahore-Sargodha Road and Civil Quarter Road, often caused huge traffic jams.

Traffic policemen are also reluctant to discharge their duties. Their focus, according to public, is to mint money from motorists.

They urged the governor, the chief minister and other high-ups to intervene to rid the city of encroachments.

SIT-IN: Journalists staged a sit-in in Chowk Jinnah Park here on Saturday to protest the police’s alleged maltreatment with common citizens, particularly with the respectable of the locality.

The journalists chanted slogans against the police for registering what they called ‘false’ cases against two traders — Amjid Nazir Butt and Rozi Kalyar.

District Press Club President Abdul Hameed Bhatti said the police were registering fake cases against citizens while letting outlaws move freely.

District Bar Association President Malik Nasrullah also announced forming a legal committee to investigate the matter.