KARACHI: Over 1,000 illegal shops were razed around the Empress Market on Sunday as the anti-encroachment drive in the Saddar area entered its seventh day, reported Geo News.
During the operation, shops located in the bird market, cloth market and dried fruit market were removed using heavy machinery.
According to Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Anti-Encroachment Senior Director Bashir Ahmed Siddiqui, the Empress Market area will be restored to its original state in the next 15 days.
“One thousand and forty-three illegal shops were demolished during the operation today,” Siddiqui said. “After the drive, the KMC and the police will set up camps in Saddar to ensure that the encroachments do not return.”
The KMC started the anti-encroachment drive in various parts of Saddar after the Supreme Court issued an order on October 27 to remove encroachments across the city within the next 15 days.
Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar while speaking to media persons at the Empress Market said the KMC would restore the natural and historical beauty of Karachi.
Speaking about the land given by the KMC to markets around the Empress Market, the mayor said the 30-year-old contract between the corporation and the markets had been terminated.
“The KMC gave this land 30 years ago, and we have terminated the contracts. A list of those who have been affected by the operation will be compiled, and they will be provided with an alternative place,” Akhtar explained.
Admitting that the original master plan of the Empress Market was changed in the past, the mayor said it was a mistake of the KMC. It is high time that such past mistakes are rectified, he added.
“In the old plan for the Empress Market there were parks all around the market, but markets were set up on that land,” Akhtar said. “We will build parks on that land and will restore Empress Market to its original state.”
Political parties support shopkeepers: Various political parties have raised concerns for the displaced shopkeepers whose shops have been demolished in the operation, adds Zia Ur Rehman.
Expressing support for the shopkeepers and traders who have been affected in the anti-encroachment drive, political parties have demanded that the apex court form a special committee comprising various stakeholders to resolve the issue.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was the first political party to raise concerns over the anti-encroachment operation. The party has won national and provincial assembly seats of Saddar in the past two general elections.
Khurrum Sher Zaman, the PTI Karachi president and local MPA, has asked the apex court to appoint a Nazir to monitor the ongoing anti-encroachment operation in the area.
Lauding the apex court’s directives for the removal of encroachments from the commercial area of the city, Zaman said his party supported the mayor in the anti-encroachment drive; however, he stressed that only illegal constructions should be demolished.
As a significant number of the affected traders and shopkeepers belong to the Pashtun community, two political parties, namely the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), have also joined the protest of the local traders and appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan to constitute a special committee comprising the stakeholders to resolve the issue.
ANP Sindh President Shahi Syed, while visiting the Empress Market and the Umer Farooq Market in Saddar, said the ANP respected the orders of the apex court and the party would not resist the removal of encroachments; however, he demanded alternative places for shopkeepers from whom the KMC had been collecting rent for many decades.
Syed claimed that two previous mayors of the city had rented out shops of the two markets and the shopkeepers possessed the relevant official documents.
According to the ANP’s provincial chief, it was regrettable that the shopkeepers were told to vacate their shops on a three-hour notice.
JUI-F Sindh deputy chief Qari Muhammad Usman also visited the Saddar area and expressed solidarity with the shopkeepers.
“The shopkeepers have been paying rent to the KMC and other departments since the past 50 years and still their shops were destroyed,” Usman said.
Operation in District East: The demolition squad of the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) estate and enforcement department razed more than 500 shops at an illegal furniture market in Gulistan-e-Jauhar that had been operating since the last 20 years, adds Fasahat Mohiuddin.
The drive was conducted in the presence of the East deputy commissioner. The KDA employed heavy machinery for the operation.
Speaking to media persons, KDA Director General Samiuddin Siddiqi said the anti-encroachment operation on the orders of the SC is in full swing and will continue till all the government land is freed from land grabbers.
The squad also demolished a boundary wall covering four acres of land near the DC East office. Sheds of around 70 illegal shops were also demolished near the office while 20 cabins on a nearby greenbelt were also razed.
The KDA DG also announced that parks and playgrounds will be developed in the city to let people enjoy in a healthy atmosphere.
