The present governments and the previous ones in the last many years have failed to address the issue owing to a variety of factors.
A number of studies carried out by Dawn in the past have shown that the nexus between police, concerned civic agencies, civil administration and those involved in the unlawful encroachments have successfully met and averted all the challenges that emerged for them from time to time.
According to residents, it was during the rule of then Sindh governor Moinduddin Haider when Saddar, particularly the city’s landmark Empress Market—-regained their lost glory with the removal of encroachments.
Those efforts had resulted in cleansing Saddar streets—-Mansfield’s, Mir Karam Ali Talpur Road, Daudpota Road, Zaibunnisa Street-Aga Khan III Road and Abdullah Haroon Road— of all illegal encroachments, giving a new look to the city centre’s landscape.
During that drive the shops in the courtyard of over a century old Empress Market, which were set up after Partition, were brought to their original domain; the car-parking lot was given a face-lift with the addition of floodlight on the front of the market; the markets in the backyard of Empress Market such as Khawja Shahabuddin Market were also rid of encroachment, increasing breadth of space for movement of pedestrians and small vehicles.
Outside Empress Market, the Preedy Street, which runs in the centre of Saddar, was also cleared of encroachments. The same was done for Mansfield’s which touches MA Jinnah Road on one hand and Lucky Star or Sarwar Shaheed Road on the other.
Daudpota Road which links Cantonment Station with Saddar and up to MA Jinnah Road had a number of bad spots removed during the exercise conducted for various days.
However according to the residents, this exercise, like many other such exercises, could not meet any success because of rampant corruption on various ends.
The present incumbent of the district coordination officer’ office — Mr Shafiqur Rahman Paracha (who was in those days commissioner Karachi) had remained at the helm as far as the removal of encroachments from Karachi was concerned.
The city administration then had come out with a plan to set up pushcart bazaar in four of the five British-age, abandoned bungalows. Through that project, the pushcart-holders and other vendors were to be provided spaces in those bungalows in order to enable them to continue to operate their business smoothly.
Owing to some property rights issues with the cantonment concerned over those bungalows, that project was sent to cold storage.
At present, Saddar gives the picture of a highly chaotic spot in the entire South Asia.
It becomes virtually impossible for the motorists to move at a steady pass right after entering this area from any point. Those caught up on Mansfield’s between Empress Market and Rainbow Centre have to wait for along time to even cover the distance between Saddar Dawakhana and Regal.
Since the area houses city’s noted educational institutions such as St Joseph’s, St Patrick’s and St Paul’s, the parents and transport carriers picking and dropping pupils find it extremely hard to do their job with less hassle.
Ever since the US bombing of Afghanistan, the traffic coming to Saddar has had to swell over to MA Jinnah Road, Sharea Quaideen and Sarwar Shaheed Road, as any other day a public demonstration is held in front of Empress Market.
The city government, it has been learnt, has been turning a blind eye for it does not want to get entangled in the perennial problem of encroachment. Owing to political sensitivities involved in the dislocation of encroachments, neither the government nor the people’s representatives have come up with any plan so far to resolve the issue on a permanent basis.