KARACHI: Over 100 illegal cabins and makeshift stalls were removed on Friday in an operation launched by the district administration to clear the famous Burns Road Food Street of encroachment.

Officials said the anti-encroachment staff of the District Municipal Corporation of South, along with a heavy contingent of police, carried out the operation under the supervision of Arambagh Assistant Commissioner Madiha Narejo.

Eyewitnesses said that traffic remained jammed and crawled at a snail’s pace as the anti-encroachment staff uprooted the fixed cabins at the street.

Arambagh SHO Atiq Afridi said that the operation had been carried out in the light of court orders in which more than 100 kiosks and other items were confiscated.

Area residents appreciated the efforts of the district administration as the illegal cabins and stalls had been creating a great deal of inconvenience to pedestrians.

Recently, the Sindh High Court had directed the local administration to end a food street being set up in the evening on a portion of Burns Road and open the key thoroughfare to vehicular traffic. While allowing two petitions filed against the closure of the road due to a food street, the court had remarked that fundamental rights of people could not be compromised in the name of a food street.

The bench set aside a notification issued by the district administration of South for setting up the food street and directed the authorities concerned to open Burns Road and allied streets. It also issued directives for removal of all encroachments from roads and footpaths.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2023