AT his appearance before a Sindh High Court bench on Tuesday in connection with a petition regarding barricades on public roads, Karachi’s commissioner said that they did not hinder the movement of citizens.

To claim this is to deny reality. Bollards and barricades that impede traffic, container blockades occupying footpaths and layers of security cordons encroaching on roads are unfortunate realities in the city.

Meanwhile security concerns only seem to intensify, given these times when government and military installations, premises of foreign consulates and residences of important personalities face varying levels of threat.

Also read: Removal of street barriers in city ordered

In Islamabad and Karachi in particular, many roads have been rendered inaccessible to the public for so long that they have virtually been forgotten about.

To take just two examples, consider Bilawal Chowk in Karachi, and the section of Aabpara Road in Islamabad fronting the headquarters of an intelligence agency — both formerly key thoroughfares.

For years now, road users have had to take detours to reach their destination near such areas, where no balance is struck between genuine security concerns and public access.

Unable to ensure foolproof security, law-enforcement agencies take the easy way out and erect a wall or put down a barrier; or bollards are placed so that traffic has to slow down ostensibly to facilitate inspection by law-enforcement personnel. Either way, the convenience of the public is sacrificed with nary a thought, and the impediments left exactly where they are.

In this context, then, it must be welcomed that the matter has been taken up by both the Supreme Court, and the Sindh High Court. On Tuesday, a bench of the former summoned the chairman of the Capital Development Authority and ordered the removal of all hurdles within 24 hours.

The same day in Karachi, the Sindh High Court directed the city commissioner and law-enforcement agencies to similarly remove illegal barriers and submit a detailed report in a fortnight. In Islamabad, as many as 216 roads have restricted access — a large figure given the size of the city — and in Karachi, as claimed by the petitioner, some 70pc of roads are similarly affected.

It is hoped that these august houses continue to pursue the matter. As it is, the general public is barely ever given a reason to believe that it figures in any of the authorities’ schemes; at the very least, the roads and footpaths need to be given back to the users.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2015

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