118 'illegal' shops on MA Jinnah Road demolished

Anti-encroachment dept officials conducted the drive on orders of Supreme Court

KARACHI: As many as 118 illegal shops were demolished on orders of the Supreme Court during an anti-encroachment drive conducted in Bhora Pir area. The shops were built on the land of Mir Muhammad Baloch Park.

The officials of the anti-encroachment department started demolishing the shops with heavy machinery in the morning and the drive continued till the afternoon.

The shop owners had vacated their shops, as they had received a notice that their shops will be demolished on Tuesday, said Akmal Dar, an official of the District Municipal Corporation South's anti-encroachment cell. According to him, the drive will continue today.



The owners of the shops, which were mostly of spare parts of bikes, had filed a petition in the court, but it ruled against them and ordered demolition of the shops illegally built on the land of the park.

Later on, the police was also called to maintain the law and order situation in the area because a protest against the demolition was started. One of the shop owners told The Express Tribune that they pay rent to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and hence, the demolition is illegal.

According to City SP Shehla Qureshi, the drive has been conducted after serving the occupants a three-month notice to vacate the shops, as 72 shops have already been demolished in the same vicinity.



The market was built in 1992 and the shop owners were said to have been paying rent to KMC. However, when contacted, KMC officials said they have no authority to comment on the issue since it was the order of the apex court to demolish the shops.