KARACHI: The Supreme Court on Saturday directed the authorities concerned to continue the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in the city.

Justice Gulzar Ahmed of the SC presided over a meeting at the apex court’s Karachi registry about encroachments. The meeting was attended by officials of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, Karachi Development Authority, Sindh Building Control Authority, Pakistan Railways, cantonment boards and others. Progress reports were submitted to the court.

Sources said that the apex court judge directed the authorities to remove encroachments from the city’s parks within a week, stop the charity organisations from using footpaths for food distribution, demolish a wall illegally built near a shopping mall in Clifton and remove illegal parking lots around restaurants and residential buildings as well as commercial activities on military land.

Justice Ahmed also directed the Railways to continue its operation against encroachments to revive the Karachi Railway Circular, they added.

After the meeting, Metropolitan Commissioner Saif-ur-Rehman told reporters that the apex court also ordered removal of the nurseries from footpaths and green belts of the city. He contended that the KMC had so far removed around 90 per cent encroachments in the provincial metropolis.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2019