KARACHI, Nov 8: A large number of car showrooms situated on either side of the recently reconstructed New M.A. Jinnah Road have once again occupied two lanes of both its tracks by parking their vehicles causing hindrance in the smooth flow of traffic.

Owners of these showrooms have not only occupied two lanes of the road but have also encroached upon both the footpaths, literally leaving no space for pedestrians and forcing them to walk on the busy artery amid fast-moving vehicles.

Terming the illegal occupation of both the footpaths and two lanes of the busy road by these showrooms’ owners “a challenge to the writ of the city government”, perturbed citizens have urged the city government and the relevant town authorities to take action against the encroachers at the earliest and take concrete steps once and for all.

They said that at a time when a large number of footpaths of various major thoroughfares such as Khalid Bin Waleed Road, Jamshed Road, Main University Road and Mohammad Bin Qasin Road (formerly Burnes Road) had already vanished because of heavy encroachments, the trend of doing business on roads would boost further and more and more footpaths would be occupied, usurping the pedestrians’ right of using footpaths.

Both the footpaths of Khalid Bin Road have been occupied by the car showrooms where thousands of cars meant for sale have been put on display. This has created a very dangerous situation particularly for the pedestrians leaving them no choice but to walk on the road.

As far as Jamshed Road is concerned, both its footpaths have been heavily encroached upon by spare parts’ shops and auto mechanics, etc while one footpath of Mohammad Bin Qasim Road (from Fresco Chowk to Jamia Cloth Market) has completely disappeared as a number of shops have sprung up there.

Moreover, different sections of both of Sharea Liaquat and Mohammad Bin Qasim Road have been occupied by fast-food restaurants, ice cream parlours and other food outlets.

Similarly, the entire footpath of main University Road (from Hassan Square to Ashfaq Memorial Hospital) has been heavily encroached upon by barbecue and fast-food restaurants.

The owners of the restaurants and barbecue houses have not only occupied footpaths but they also serve their customers on the median which bifurcates the main road with the service road which had been lying in a highly dilapidated condition since long.