PESHAWAR, Sept 19: The Cantonment Board has warned the shopkeepers to remove their illegal structures and save themselves from incurring more losses, an official said.

“The deadline for anti-encroachment drive is long over and those who are unwilling to remove their illegal structures from their shops, houses and buildings would face more harm in case we drive bulldozers on them,” said the official.

According to him, the board had extended the initial deadline for the shopkeepers to trim their shops for four feet each to Sept 7, following a meeting of the representatives of the business community with Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah.

Some shopkeepers cooperated but others were using delaying tactics  in removal of the illegal structures, he said.

The authorities could bulldoze such shops and buildings anytime because the deadline was over, said the official. 

He asked the property owners in the cantonment area to remove the illegal structures as soon as possible. The bulldozers would raze most parts of the encroaching properties, he warned.

Some shopkeepers who are reluctant to remove their illegal structures argue that they been the owners of the properties from the past 50 years and demolition of their shops would deprive them of their costly properties, rendering many jobless and homeless.

The official suggested that the shopkeepers who had started removal of illegal structures should make arrangements to cover the drainage system properly.

He asked the stakeholders to shift the telephone, electricity, water and gas lines at their own expenses and contact the department concerned for the purpose.

The anti-encroachment drive was launched by the government to widen the city roads and correct the faulty drainage and electricity system.