KARACHI: The city administration has vowed that it will not allow construction of any structure “under its area of regulation” which violated the defined rules of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC).

The decision was made in a meeting chaired by Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab who also called for a strong and coordinated strategy to eliminate encroachments from the city.

The meeting, which was called to devise strategy against the growing encroachment in the city, was attended by the officials of estate department, land department, anti-encroachments department and council department and the police authorities. Municipal Commissioner KMC S. M. Afzal Zaidi also accompanied the mayor.

“The mayor asked the meeting participants that construction within the boundaries of KMC should be monitored,” said a statement issued after the meeting. “If they are built illegally, immediate legal action should be taken against them. Encroachment creates deterioration in the city and leads to fatal traffic accidents and they are raised on footpaths. The encroachments should be cleared from the footpaths, especially in the South and East districts,” he said.

The mayor directed the senior director of land and senior director of anti-encroachment to work together with the district administration to carry out operations against encroachments. He made it clear that encroachments should never be established, especially in front or around the parks, playgrounds and places of worship and said that the land mafia and the containers which are placed on footpaths to turn them into shops should also be removed.

The mayor said that shopkeepers had also set up encroachments inside the markets of KMC and had crossed the limits of their shops and occupied the corridors and pedestrian space which must be abolished. He directed the additional directors and deputy directors present in the meeting to take effective action in their respective areas and play their roles to end encroachments. Disciplinary action would be taken against the officers who do not perform, he added.

The mayor asked the officers of the anti-encroachments and land department to be vigilant and that they “should not turn a blind eye to encroachments” and warned that he would personally monitor the performances of the officers.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2024