HARIPUR: The tehsil municipal administration and district administration will launch an anti-encroachment campaign in Haripur city to address traffic mess on the roads, district police officer Imran Shahid said on Tuesday.

The DPO told reporters at the Haripur Press Club that shopkeepers of the main bazaar were responsible for road congestion as they had given the space outside their shops to pushcart owners and vendors.

He also said shopkeepers parked motorcycles and cars there blocking the movement of customers and vehicles.

Mr Shahid said the administration had asked shopkeepers many times not to allow street vendors and pushcart owners to occupy space outside their shops but they didn’t act accordingly.

He said both sides of the road often remained occupied by vehicles, pushcarts and rickshaws inconveniencing customers.

The DPO said after holding multiple meetings and receiving public complaints, the TMA, district administration and police had decided to launch a joint crackdown on encroachments in the next few days.

He said a drive to discourage the plying of unregistered rickshaws in the city would also be launched.

Mr Shahid said efforts were afoot to bring the police and people close for the eradication of crimes.

He said the Haripur police had arrested many named in robbery, car theft and drug cases.

The DPO said all SHOs and moharars had been directed to register FIRs of every complainant without delay and transfer complaints to the investigation wing for probe.

He welcomed positive criticism of the police.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2022