According to some estimates, there are believed to be upwards of 100,000 stalls and pushcarts run by encroachers on the sidewalks and streets that impede the movement of people and goods across Karachi alone. In the fasting month of Ramazan, the number of sidewalk vendors and street salesmen tends to rise appreciably. One television channel recently reported that encroachers have to fork out a sum of Rs150 every day if they to want to avoid the wrath of the authorities. Even a rough calculation would show that a whopping sum of Rs1.5 crore is being raised every single day. Stall or pushcart owners are desperate and have no other choice while the municipal officials and policemen who pocket the money are slaves of their own greed and incapable of thinking what a lot of good can be done with the same money. If the city authorities were smart enough, they would crack down on the extortion racket and offer to formalise their presence if the same amount was paid in taxes to the city — effectively cutting out the middlemen from the deal.
Sidewalk vendors, however, believe the monopoly of the police and municipal bodies cannot be challenged because they will never allow any honest or well-meaning official to end this cycle of extortion and redirect the funds into the city’s coffers. Maybe so but should at least try to end this racket.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 6th, 2017.
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