Learning curve for KMC: Removing encroachments isn’t easy

KARACHI: The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) administrator Mohammad Hussain Syed said on Sunday that land grabbers had become active once again and ordered officials to start removing them. Syed paid a visit to Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and KDA Society, where he alleged that land belonging to the KMC was illegally occupied. “No one would be allowed to encroach upon amenity plots,” a KMC statement quoted him as saying. “We will go after [encroachers] with full force.” However, anti-encroachment department director Abdul Malik said that removing encroachers from Gadap, Liaquatabad and Baldia towns had become a problem for the authorities. “[The culprits] are like a mafia. Our workers came under fire on numerous occasions.” Malik also criticised utility companies for providing water, power and gas connections to illegal settlements.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2012.