KARACHI: The city commissioner on Friday announced a ‘zero tolerance’ policy for placing chairs and tables on walkways and pavements along the roads that are 100 feet wide or more and strictly prohibited restaurants and eateries from encroaching on these areas.

As per the new standard operating procedures, no outdoor placement of chairs and tables or any obstruction on footpaths, service lanes or road shoulders along the major arteries (100 feet or more) would be allowed.

However, eateries on 60-100 feet commercial roads and below 60 feet neighbourhood streets can use the space with a prior no-objection certificate (NOC) from the town office and deputy commissioner concerned without obstructing movement of pedestrians or vehicles.

As per the mechanism of obtaining the NOC, the proprietor of an eatery will submit an application to the town municipal office with a trade licence, rental agreement and an undertaking.

Commissioner announces ‘zero tolerance’ against encroachments by roadside food outlets, tea shops

The joint verification of the application would be conducted by the town municipal officer, traffic police and mukhtiarkar to assess obstruction, hygiene and nuisance potential.

The town officer will forward their recommendation to the deputy commissioner for conditional approval, valid of one year.

255 eateries unsealed

As many as 255 roadside tea shops and restaurants sealed for encroaching on walkways and pavements are now set to reopen after agreeing to follow the new SOP guidelines.

Officials said that the city administration on Friday decided to unseal the closed eateries after their association assured implementation of the newly framed guidelines.

They said that the decision to unseal was taken after the written assurance of implementation of the SOP by the restaurants association and the submission of a written affidavit by hotels.

Commissioner Syed Hasan Naqvi had formed a committee, headed by Additional Commissioner Ghulam Mehdi Shah, to prepare the SOP.

The committee, which also comprised deputy commissioners of districts East and Central and representatives of the restaurant association, to submit proposals to make it mandatory for hotels to be kept within their limit.

According to the SOP, roads have been divided into three categories: zero tolerance roads, 100 feet wide or more; commercial and secondary roads, 60-100 feet wide; and neighbourhood streets, below 60 feet wide.

There will be no encroachment on a road of one hundred or more feet at all.

The decision to determine the desired location for the hotel or tea house will be made with the confirmation of the authorised representative and traffic police and the recommendation of the town officer. The concerned DC will issue the NOC.

The commissioner said that the city administration will continue action against encroachments in the city and the unsealed eateries would be monitored.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2025