Anti-encroachment drive: NHA, TMA demolish 25 kiosks on GT Road

Owners demand alternative spots to put up their stalls

HARIPUR: In order to ease the flow of traffic, the district administration and the National Highway Authority on Wednesday demolished 25 kiosks along the GT road near Sera-e-Saleh.

Kiosks owners, however, protested that their stalls were placed on private property away from the road and demanded alternative spaces to put up their stalls.

The kiosks were demolished as part of an anti-encroachment drive.

The anti-encroachment squad headed by Haripur’s Additional Assistant Commissioner Qaisar Khan and accompanied by police, Town Municipal Administration and NHA officials demolished kiosks lining both sides of the GT Road between Sera-e-Saleh to Paki Dohli. If that was not enough, they also confiscated their debris afterwards.

“Yes, we have demolished these kiosks because they were the main hindrance to the flow of traffic on GT Road,” Khan told The Express Tribune.

He added that the NHA and TMA authorities had twice served kiosk notices, asking them to remove them voluntarily. Instead of moving the kiosks, the stall owners started pressuring the authorities utilising their political contacts.



Confirming that they had also confiscated the debris of these kiosks, Khan said it had been handed over to NHA officials.

However, kiosk owners complained that they were not encroaching on the road.

Murad, one of the kiosk owners whose stall had been demolished, contested NHA’s claim of impeding the flow of traffic since their structures were placed 10 to 20 feet away from the shoulder of the road on both sides. Murad added that their kiosks were built on private property.

Instead of clearing the road, the kiosk owner complained that the NHA and TMA authorities had deprived them of their livelihood without allotting them alternative space to continue their business.

Naeem, another whose kiosk had been demolished, said that he had built and stocked his stall with oranges after taking loans from a relative.

He added that since oranges had just come into season, he thought by stocking the citrus fruits, he would be able to turn around a quick profit and pay off the loan.

Lamenting his loss of livelihood, he complained that buildings and structures built along GT road that were real source of traffic mess, however, they had been spared. He demanded alternative space for them.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2016.