Final warning: Anti-encroachment drive likely within fortnight

Mansehra DC asks for all encroached structures to be marked in a week.

MANSEHRA: The Mansehra district administration has decided to launch an anti-encroachment drive within the next fortnight to reclaim illegally-occupied government land.

The owners of hundreds of shops, plazas, hospitals, filling stations and other buildings are likely to face action if they fail to clear the state’s land within the given time, an official source told The Express Tribune.

According to the source, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government has asked all district administrations across Hazara division to reclaim land from illegal occupants and ensure the expansion of streets and highways as soon as possible.

Following the directives, Mansehra Deputy Commissioner Syed Zulfiqar Shah called a meeting of officials from various departments at his office on Monday to discuss the situation of encroachments in the city. Shah asked the municipal committee, district council and National Highway Authority to complete their markings of every structure, both cemented and temporary, within the next week, and report to him for final orders.

The drive is to take place from Chattar Plain to the entrance of Mansehra, whereby the inner city roads are to be widened to 66 feet, while those outside the city should be widened to between 70 and 100 feet.

The drive was stalled earlier in May after small operations in a limited area, when the administration succumbed to pressure from traders’ organisations, which said the drive was based on discrimination and political vendetta. About 400 shops, plazas, filling stations, private hospitals and hotels with extended portions were marked along the Karakoram Highway between Datta Barrier and Gandhian. The occupants were also served notices asking them to demolish their encroachments within seven days, otherwise the demolition squad of the district council would have to take action.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2014.