Demolitions begin on Kidney Hill Park land

KARACHI:

The anti-encroachment cell of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation initiated on Tuesday demolitions of four houses constructed on Kidney Hill Park's following judicial orders to rid the premises of encroachments. However, affected residents maintained that the institutions, which had leased the houses, were now dubbing them illegal.

A heavy contingent of law enforcement personnel accompanied the KMC teams.

The anti-encroachment cell's head, Bashir Siddiqui, told The Express Tribune that the operation was being carried out on the Supreme Court's orders. The bungalows were built 20 years ago and were leased by the PECHS.

It will likely take eight to 10 days to raze them completely after which the land will be handed over to the Hill Park authorities, he said. He added that there were 17 plots on the park's land and four of them have houses built on them. Other plots were retrieved a year back, he said. However, Akhtar Saeed, an affected resident said that he had purchased the bungalow 20 years ago from a builder. At the time of purchase, he said, he had seen the documents verified by the Karachi Development Authority, the KMC, a no-objection certificate by the PECHS among others.

The institutions which permitted the construction of these houses 22 years ago are now calling them illegal, he lamented.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2021.