KARACHI: The commissioner of the metropolis directed the city administration on Monday to devise a comprehensive plan to remove encroachments from storm drains and restore them to their actual size so that rainwater could flow in them without any hindrance.

Karachi Commissioner Shaoib Siddiqui said at a meeting with all deputy commissioners of the city that the plan should also include compensation for and relocation of encroachers from the waterways for which social, religious and political leaders should be taken into confidence to ensure the operation was executed smoothly.

He said that encroachers themselves were at grave risk of drowning in the event of heavy rains when the encroachments hindered smooth flow of rainwater and caused it to overflow the drain’s banks, inflicting heavy losses on encroachers.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2014