RAWALPINDI, Jan 20: The city administration will launch an operation against encroachments from Thursday, sources said.

They said the district and Tehsil administrations were dilly-dallying with the encroachment issue for the past four months. The authorities had started the operation several times but stopped it first because of the general elections and then due to the by-polls, they added.

However, they said, since the electoral exercise was over the administration had decided to launch a massive operation against the encroachers in the city.

The district government had over the past few months done many experiments, but most of these failed to rid the city of the problem.

The district administration began the experimentation by handing over the task of checking encroachments to the business community apparently to extricate itself from the controversies arising out of the anti-encroachment drives.

A six-member committee comprising Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and both factions of Anjuman-i-Tajran was formed, but nothing could be achieved. Attempts were then made to improve the situation by suspending two inspectors of the anti- encroachment squad of the TMA — Shamsher Shah and Fareedan Khan — on the allegations of patronizing the menace of encroachments in the city.

The entire staff of the anti-encroachment wing was transferred to make the drive effective, but to no avail.

The Tehsil Nazim had made yet another attempt through negotiations with leaders of the business community, which he had on that occasion said were held to convey the resolve of the administration to go ahead with the operation.

However, when all this experimentation failed, the administration put the blame of patronizing the encroachments on the traders.