RAWALPINDI: Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha on Friday suspended six officials of the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) over corruption charges.

He also asked the shopkeepers of the garrison city to remove encroachments by Aug 15 otherwise illegal structures would be demolished and goods seized.

He made these directives during a meeting to review the anti-encroachment drive in the city areas.

The commissioner said a special operation is being launched under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner and CPO Rawalpindi to eliminate encroachment across the city.

He said the shopkeepers are being given time till Aug 15 to remove all the encroachments after the deadline, the goods would be confiscated.

He said that confiscated material would not be returned under any circumstances and would be transferred to warehouses outside the city under the supervision of deputy commissioner and CPO.

Temporary encroachments will be lifted while permanent ones will be demolished, so shopkeepers were advised to pick up the goods in this given time and save themselves from damage.

Liaquat Ali Chattha, taking into consideration the concerns raised by the businessmen on the performance of municipal corporation officers, directed the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation Chief Officer to suspend six officials.

The commissioner said this time the operation will be done not only in the markets but also in institutions and strict action will be taken against the elements involved in corruption.

He said the anti-encroachment operation is successful only if it is sustainable, adding that soon 3,800 cameras of the Safe City project would be installed across the city, which will be able to identify encroachments and traffic jams caused by it.

He asked the representatives of Anjuman-i-Tajaran to make continuous announcements about this operation in their respective markets and also distribute pamphlets as no one will be spared after the given deadline.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2023