KARACHI: Senior Director Anti-Encroachment at Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Bashir Siddiqui has asserted that anti-encroachment operation in the city would continue and all illegally raised houses and shops would be removed.
Talking to M.M News, Bashir Siddiqui informed that a complete list of encroachments to be demolished has been completed. “The authorities will start a huge anti-encroachment drive this month,” he added.
“Encroachments were also demolished on the Songal Nullah last month. The Nullah was only 3 feet wide due to encroachments, but we have now widened it to 25 feet,” he remarked.
In response to a question, Bashir Siddiqui said, “The personnel given to us by the district administration for the anti-encroachment are not enough,” adding, “During the operation on Mehmoodabad Nullah, there were more protesters and less security. The same happened in Manzoor Colony, which is why we failed.”
“If a huge action is to be taken, more personnel would be required, keeping in mind the resistance,” he said, urging the district administration to provide additional forces.
The federal and provincial government launched the anti-encroachment drive on Supreme Court orders, but the operation was not successful due to public resistance.
The Chief of Army Staff himself visited Karachi and asserted that the stalled works in Karachi would be completed in the next three years and Prime Minister Imran Khan also directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to address the basic issues here.
However, massive and violent protests by the residents of Manzoor Colony and Mehmoodabad have forced the authorities to postpone the campaign to remove encroachments along the Mehmoodabad Nullah.
