On court orders: Anti-encroachment operation conducted at KMC’s sports complex, surroundings

Mayor Wasim Akhtar vows to develop sports facilities

KARACHI: On the directives of the Supreme Court (SC), an anti-encroachment operation was carried out around Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Sports Complex and China Ground on Kashmir Road on Tuesday.

Mayor Wasim Akhtar inspected and reviewed the operation. As many as five wedding halls, mixture plants and other encroachments were removed.

For the past 20 years, Akhtar said, the sports complex was used for commercial purposes. “We will renovate the sports complex and bring back sports activities here,” he said, requesting the land grabbers to stop encroaching land in the port city.



Akhtar assured that the sports complex would be made better and more facilities for sports training and sports competitions will be provided so that young sportsmen and students could avail the best training facility inside the complex. “The trees and grass lawns in the complex will be protected in this operation against encroachments and the parks will be made even greener and beautiful,” he said.

Since its inception, the sports complex has offered facilities for various sports disciplines, including swimming, tennis, hockey, roller hockey, squash and indoor games for the youth and emerging talent.

According to the mayor, Karachi suffered a lot due to land grabbing and encroachments in every nook and cranny of the city.

Earlier in the month, SC had ordered the KMC and Karachi Development Authority to demolish all illegal buildings and offices built on land reserved for public parks and playgrounds in the metropolis.



A two-judge bench, comprising justices Gulzar Ahmed and Maqbool Baqar, further ordered the city’s authorities to tear down wedding halls, political parties’ offices and other illegal buildings across the city and restore the playgrounds and public parks to their original position.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by former Karachi mayor Naimatullah Khan at the SC’s Karachi Registry.