Demolition squad: 150 shops at Karachi Zoo razed, 250 to go

The shops and offices had been rented out by KMC in the 1960s

KARACHI: The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) demolished on Saturday around 150 shops built on the premises of the Karachi Zoo. Over 250 shops are expected to be razed over the next couple of days as part of the anti-encroachment operation being carried out on the Supreme Court's orders.

The shops and offices demolished on Saturday were at least seven decades old and had been rented out by the KMC in the 1960s. The operation seeks to demolish the around 200 shops and 205 offices built along the peripheral walls of Karachi Zoo. On Saturday morning, KMC officials, aided by heavy machinery, razed 150 shops. They included establishments selling musical instruments, car batteries and other spare parts.



Large contingents of police and Rangers personnel were deployed in the vicinity to avoid any confrontation with the shop owners, who had largely vacated the spaces a day earlier. During the operation, the road from Garden to Lasbela was blocked for vehicular traffic.

Tenancy terminated

KMC's anti-encroachment director, Bashir Siddiqui, told The Express Tribune that the shops had been rented out by the zoological gardens and the KMC's estate department in the 1960s. On January 1, the KMC had issued notices to the tenants, effectively ending their contracts and asking them to vacate the premises before they were demolished.



In response to a question, Siddiqui said that the residences of the zoo's employees were built behind the shops.  Notices to vacate the houses have also been issued, but the commercial activities were stopped in the first phase of the operation. In addition to this, buildings in Bagh Ibne Qasim will also be demolished, he said.

Loss of a living

The owner of a shop, who asked not to named, told The Express Tribune that he had been running the shop for the last 40 years. "My father was allotted this shop in 1962 and I have been working here since 1975," he said, adding that the KMC had unjustly demolished the shops ahead of their deadline of January 21.

"I have daughters and I don't know how I will run my house. This was our only source of income," he lamented.  

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2019.