SUKKUR: Staff of the Sukkur Municipal Corpo­ration launched an operation to remove illegally raised construction from Ghazi Abdul Rasheed Park at around midnight intervening Saturday and Sunday.

Municipal commissioner Pir Wahid Bux along with other officials supervised the operation.

Bulldozers and other heavy machineries were used in razing the Sindh Islamic Centre, a bungalow, residential quarters, offices, Fikro Nazar School and a nursery from the illegally occupied lands of the park and certain organisations.

The Islamic centre’s structures were demolished after the Supreme Court rejected its administration’s appeal against the municipality’s decision to remove the encroachment.

A chaotic situation was witnessed on Saturday when the municipal administration told occupants of the buildings, shops and stalls standing on the park’s land to vacate their premises till midnight.

Meanwhile, another notice has been served to the office-bearers of the Sukkur Press Club to vacate it in order to facilitate its demolition.

According to the office-bearers, they had received no directives from the apex court after the hearing, a couple of days back, of their appeal against demolition of the building.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2019