Saving time: ‘Encroachers will be evicted without notice’

Commissioner warns contractors, KMC directors to fix their act and work for the city

KARACHI: Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui has ordered to evict all encroachers from storm water drains and other public properties without serving them any notice. He reasons that at the time the encroachers were constructing their illegal settlements, they had not taken the authorities into confidence.

The stern direction emerged on Friday, when Siddiqui was speaking to the media personnel at his office. He explained that if the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) started serving notices before removing encroachments in the city, it would take more than six years to free the city from this menace.



“Wherever we will get the opportunity to demolish the encroachments, we will,” he said, adding that he had been very vocal regarding encroachments in the city through the media and this should be considered as ample notice.

According to him, the anti-encroachment drive at Gujjar Nullah was widely supported by the media as well as the elected representatives. It was due to the cooperation of these stakeholders that any protest against the anti-encroachment drive was easily foiled.

Speaking about the other parts of the city where encroachments were rampant, he said that Surjani and Korangi were being strictly monitored by the authorities. “Officers of these areas should also watch themselves,” he warned. The commissioner also warned the contractors to speed up the renovation and development works in the city. “If the contractor of Jam Sadiq Ali Bridge does not kick off the work in one week, he will have to pack up and go home.” The Malir Halt Bridge, he said, was ready and the Malir 15 flyover will be completed soon.

Siddiqui also pledged to introduce the culture of working late in the city and said that it had already been started.

On the issue of Qingqis, he said that the ban was not enforced by the government, but had been directed by the honorable high court. He admitted that the Qingqis were serving the needs of the public, but reiterated that they were a menace for the traffic flow. “The three-wheelers were running from 2004 and should have been stopped much earlier,” he admitted, pledging to bring back the CNG buses as soon as possible.

Siddiqui told the media that he had warned all the directors of the KMC to stop crying over lack of funds and start working. “The officials’ habit of spending money lavishly will have to be stopped,” he said and added that cost of doing work would also be reduced in the municipality.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2015.