KARACHI: The ongoing anti-encroachment operation in the city by the civic bodies on Tuesday led to the sealing of a popular eatery off Shahrah-i-Quaideen by the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) on the pretext of using residential property for commercial purposes.

A senior official said that the authority moved in coordination with the district East administration and sealed off the restaurant, which was not only being run on a residential piece of land, but also using public space — footpath and greenbelt — for the business.

However, he said, the news of the action against the eatery came under spotlight despite the fact that the authority had taken similar steps against dozens of car showrooms on the same road.

“We have sealed the restaurant and asked the owners to follow the set rules for resuming the business,” said SBCA director general Iftikhar Ahmed Kaimkhani.

“It’s not against any particular restaurant or business house. We have sealed dozens of car showrooms situated along the same road [Khalid Bin Waleed Road] in coordination with the district administration. Our operation in the district would continue next few days in line with the directives of the Supreme Court against encroachments and illegal mechanism of doing business.”

An SBCA notification pasted along the seal at the restaurant’s entrance reads that the action was taken “on account of misuse of residential plot into commercial in presence of magistrate/assistant commissioner” un­der “Section 7-A of the Sindh Building Control Ordinance 1979-82 (amended up to date)”.

When asked about the future of multimillion rupee businesses being run on the same locations for several decades, the SBCA chief said that no more relaxation would be given to such facilities and they would now need to meet legal formalities to keep their businesses running and safe from the regulator’s action.

“If they want to continue their business at the same place, first they would have to convert the status from residential to commercial in line with the defined laws. They would have to approach every single regulatory body and civic agency for the clearance and meet the formalities. Till then they would not be allowed to do business at the same place,” said Mr Kaimkhani.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2018