RAWALPINDI, Jan 13: The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board in an anti-encroachment operation on Tuesday impounded about 20 push- carts and removed stalls in several areas.

The operation was conducted by the RCB anti-encroachment staff under the supervision of the cantonment magistrate, Khalid Mehmood. The encroachments were considered security hazard. The operation is part of the steps taken by the civic body to enhance security in the wake of suicidal attacks on President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

The anti-encroachment operation was conducted on Misrial Road, and Peshawar Road up to Golra and Pirwadhai More. All the counters set up illegally in front of hotels, road-side eateries and kiosks were removed and their goods impounded.

The RCB magistrate said the operation was launched on the directives of the new officiating station commander, Brig Mohammad Tariq. About the confiscated goods, he said, for the time being, these would remain in RCB custody. He said under the Cantonment Act 1924, any such goods could be confiscated which hindered smooth flow of traffic and created nuisance for the people.

The magistrate said the RCB was running short of staff to regularly monitor all the cantonment areas and remove encroachments. The operation, he said, would continue till all the areas had been cleared of encroachments, which, apart from disturbing traffic, also posed security risk to VIP movements.

The kiosk-owners and vendors, however, have criticized the anti-encroachment operation, calling it an anti-poor drive. "These push-carts and kiosks were the only source of income for us. Now we have been deprived of our livelihood," they said.

The big businessmen, they said, who had occupied big chunks of stateland were never checked. It is only the poor who are subjected to discriminatory treatment, they said.

Meanwhile, the acting Tehsil Nazim, Sajjad Khan, has said all kinds of pushcarts and donkey carts would be banned from entering the city limits to streamline traffic and remove security risks, especially in the wake of attacks on President Musharraf.

He was presiding over a meeting of Tehsil officers at the TMA office. He said the biggest problem for the residents of Rawalpindi city was sanitation. The TMA, he said, was considered responsible for maintaining cleanliness. But, it is a big task and is not possible without people's cooperation. Mr Khan urged the local representatives to supervise sanitation work in their respective areas.