Illegal occupation: KMC directed to clear greenbelt of encroachments

Petitioner claims that an influential person has constructed a restaurant on the greenbelt.

KARACHI:

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has been ordered to remove an illegally established restaurant from a greenbelt in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

The Sindh High Court (SHC) gave this direction while hearing a petition against illegal encroachments over the green belt and its commercial use in violation of the laws. The petitioner, Fazal Khaliq, had alleged that influential persons, who enjoyed support of the area's police and KMC authorities, had illegally occupied a portion of the greenbelt in front of his shops at University Road in Gulistan-e-Jauhar Block 4.

He said that the encroachers had erected structures and started running a hotel in the name of Pak Shinwari Restaurant, which is a violation of the laws under which the spaces earmarked for greenbelts cannot be used for any residential or commercial purposes.

Khaliq alleged that he had made repeated requests to the KMC officials, but no action had been taken against the violators so far. He pleaded the court direct the relevant authorities to remove the encroachment from green belt.

Meanwhile, a court official (Nazir), who was appointed by the SHC to carry out a physical inspection of the site, submitted his report, confirming the existence of a hotel on the space reserved for the green belt.

Keeping in view the inspection report, the judges directed the KMC law officer to ensure that the encroachments are removed from the green belt and submit a compliance report within ten days.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2014.