Clearing the path: Haripur braces for anti-encroachment drive

Municipal Corporation intends to restore the roads back to their original widths.

HARIPUR: Following a successful anti-encroachment drive in Abbottabad, the district administration has decided to launch a similar one in Haripur to reclaim illegally occupied government land.

During the first phase, the administration will clear Circular Road of cemented and temporary encroachments, official sources shared on Thursday.



“On the directives of Hazara division commissioner, we have identified over 500 encroachments, including cemented ones on Eastern, Western and Northern Circular roads,” said Municipal Officer Regulation Syed Sikandar Mansoor Shah.

“The encroachers have constructed shops, plazas, staircases, sheds and stalls on the illegally occupied land,” claimed Shah, adding the encroached land ranges between one and 13 feet.

The municipal officer added the occupants have been warned several times in the past, but they have not responded. He maintained the broad roads have been transformed into narrow streets, making it difficult to cross, even on foot. “These encroachments have often resulted in fatal accidents.”

He said the roads in the district were carpeted during the Sikh era from 1822 to 1848. “They were later improved during the time of the British era in 1853 and were made 44 to 50 feet wide,” he said, adding the encroachments have considerably narrowed the roads down. “The municipal corporation will bring it back to its original size according to the map of Haripur of the year 1981.”

Shah added they will serve the illegal occupants notices, asking them to clear the road in seven days after which the structures will be razed to the ground. He said in the second phase of the drive the authorities will clear GT Road and internal routes.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2014.