Bhains Colony residents want encroachments removed

They urge the KMC to act against encroachers as soon as possible

KARACHI: Residents of Bhains Colony urged on Sunday the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to launch an anti-encroachment drive in the area soon, as the issue had been worsening with every passing day and resultantly causing a nuisance for motorists and pedestrians. These views were expressed during the general meeting of the Bhains Colony Reforms Committee by its members.

The president of the committee’s steering group, Muhammad Rizwan, said the KMC anti-encroachment department had been asked time and time again to take across the board action against encroachers but it did not pay any heed to the issue.



He said that, according to a survey conducted by his team, it was discovered that there were certain elements in the KMC who were sheltering encroachers in order to make money. He said this time, if the KMC did not perform its duty, the committee along with likeminded people would stage a sit-in in front of the Malir deputy commissioner’s office in the near future.

Ghulam Murtaza, a member of the survey team, said a government employee of the national flag carrier, Haji Abdul Rasheed, had illegally set up a weighbridge on road No 4 of the colony. The land where the weighbridge had been built belonged to the KMC. Either the anti-encroachment department was asleep or taking bribes as the owner claims so publically, he added. Murtaza said the weighbridge had narrowed the road by almost half and made it uneven, which was causing severe difficulties for the road users.

He said during the most recent rain spell that hit the city, a couple of trucks carrying straw and grass had collapsed due to the bumpy road, as the platform had been built too high. Another encroacher, Abdul Rasheed, had almost built five shops on the nullah by dismantling the drainage system along the illegal weighbridge, Murtaza added.



The offices of several transporters were located on the same road, such as Warraich Goods Transport, Allah Tawakal Goods Transport and Bismillah Goods Transport, and their heavy vehicles were parked on the road, leaving little space for motorists, he said. Summing up the survey’s findings, Murtaza said this was the pathetic situation of a single road, adding that the next phase of the survey would start soon and unveil more irregularities continuing in Bhains Colony. APP