KARACHI: Police on Tuesday fired tear gas shells to disperse angry people protesting against a controversial “anti-encroachment” operation under which authorities demolished their decades-old shops and houses at Landikotal Chowrangi in North Nazimabad.

The Karachi Bachao Tehreek (KBT), however, claimed that KDA’s anti-encroachment cell had initiated a demolition drive against “working-class properties in Landikotal Chowrangi, Karachi. This new drive has been initiated against shopkeepers, who had purchased their shops under leases by the KMC, KDA, SKAA and CDGK”.

Officials said that an anti-encroachment team of district Central administration faced resistance from the “occupants of the encroached land”.

They said that a heavy contingent of police, accompanying with the anti-encroachment team, fired several tear gas shells to disperse the protesters.

Deputy Commissioner-Central Taha Saleem said that the team was assisted by the officials of the Karachi Development Authority, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and District Municipal Corporation-Central.

“The situation was brought under control with the assistance of police,” he added.

Sources in the district administration said that a grand operation was being conducted to remove encroachments at Landikotal Chowrangi.

They said that over 35 illegally constructed shops on the encroached land was being demolished using heavy machinery.

The KBT in a series of Twitter postings stated: “On 19 August shopkeepers of Landikotal Chowrangi received notification from Anti-Encroachment Cell, where it was stated that their shops are on Amenities (ST) plot and they should produce documents within 3 days or their shops will be demolished on 21 August.

“Shopkeepers submitted documents proving these shops are neither on ST plot nor illegal -all have leases. Authorities then came up with a new argument that the road facing their shops should be 150ft according to a map drawn in 1974 - arbitrarily legitimising these demolitions,” it said, adding that the authorities did not pay any heed to what shopkeepers said and started demolishing their establishments.

“The ‘anti-encroachment’ narrative is being weaponised again to take over land that working class people have bought and built on, legitimately,” it said.

KBT convener Khurram Ali also tweeted that the shopkeepers were peacefully evacuating their shops and removing materials and goods, but the anti-encroachment team started their action in haste and law-enforcers resorted to tear gas shelling because they knew affected people might get a stay order from the court.

He tweeted the picture of what he called a stay order granted by the Sindh High Court and stated: “By the time this stay order against the illegal demolitions of leased shops at Landi Kotal Chowrangi was typed and signed authorities under the lead of DC Central@TheTahaSaleem demolished 80 percent of the shops, using shelling and force and damaging material and goods.”

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2022