HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad deputy commissioner has warned the administrator of Hyderabad Municipal Corporation in an unusually terse letter that if he fails to remove encroachments from the city’s roads and markets a complaint against him will be submitted to Sindh High Court and Sindh Chief Secretary.

DC Fuad Ghaffar Soomro asked in the letter dated March 30 the HMC administrator and municipal commissioner to activate the corporation’s anti-encroachment cell and remove illegal structures from all commercial areas, roads and footpaths.

However, the HMC administrator Mohammad Farooq Khan said that as of Wednesday he had not received the letter through official channels.

He said the anti-encroachment cell was working as per its mandate in the city and Latifabad talukas albeit with a couple of changes after the retirement of its in-charge.

“Transfers and postings are routine matter in any organisation,” he said, replying to the DC’s letter which had insinuated that the previous head of the cell was deliberately transferred.

Until recently the DC himself had held additional charge of HMC’s administrator but he requested Sindh minister for local government to relieve him of the charge as he was already overworked and overburdened with responsibilities as district administration head and director general of Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA).

The Sindh High Court Hyderabad circuit bench had ordered the DC in 2021 to ensure removal of encroachments from all main thoroughfares, roads, footpaths and public spaces. Subsequently, anti-encroachment drive was carried out but it slowed to a stop soon afterwards.

Lately, the city witnessed reemergence of encroachments on roads, especially during Ramazan, which were creating hurdles to smooth flow of traffic.

Conveying his displeasure to HMC administrator, the DC said that despite clear court directives about removal of encroachments and their identification the illegal structures were not removed from important commercial areas and business centres of the city.

He said the trend of setting up stalls and parking pushcarts in front of shops had resurfaced and increased when compared with the past. It was causing great inconvenience to shoppers in bazaars and also leading to traffic jams, he said.

The DC said that the court had taken notice of the chronic issue encroachments in the city after receiving a number of identical applications. The district administration was thereafter directed to remove the encroachments and the administration had complied with the directives by removing unauthorised structures as well as generators occupying public spaces, he said.

“It is observed that for some unavoidable political reasons and unwanted matters the anti-encroachment drive was halted or deliberately slowed down,” read the letter.

He said that after solid waste management of the city had been outsourced hundreds of HMC employees had been rendered idle. “HMC’s anti-encroachment cell has a massive workforce. Administrative matters are, however, not properly handled and postings are made on the basis of political considerations and personal likes and dislikes,’’ he complained.

He said that the head of anti-encroachment cell was transferred during Ramazan when roads witnessed more traffic and markets more crowds of shoppers. As a result, complaints were piling up, he said.

“As the head of district administration I am under obligation to direct you [administrator] to activate the cell’s team, re-post the cell’s team leader and remove all permanent and soft encroachments from the city because it is primarily HMC’s job under Local Government Act,” stated the DC, asking him to submit report on anti-encroachment drive to his office.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2023