SC orders inquiry into illegal occupation of parks

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered an inquiry into land grabbing of public parks in Karachi and directed the Sindh chief secretary to take action against government officers who failed to protect the amenity plots and facilitated in their grabbing.

Hearing the petition of former city mayor Naimatullah Khan against encroachment of public parks across the city, the SC’s three-member bench headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed took exception to the inaction of the administration as regards the removal of encroachments at public parks.

The bench observed that public parks have been allowed to be encroached upon due to the negligence of the relevant authorities, and that the city is appearing to be a slum because of that. The court said Karachi used to a beautiful metropolis, but it has been converted into a city of buildings.

The bench observed that encroachments have been made on sewage treatment plants, public parks and lands reserved for other amenities, and everyone is witnessing that the people are being compelled to live without basic amenities.

The court told the Sindh advocate general that Rs250 billion are claimed to have been spent in the city, asking him what the previous government has done in the past decade, as no proper infrastructure has been be developed.

The bench observed that the country cannot run only by saying prayers, and that some practical work needs to be done. The court said the city’s beauty has been destroyed by raising walls on the main roads, while multi-storeyed buildings have been allowed to be constructed everywhere.

The bench then directed the chief secretary to conduct an inquiry into land grabbing of the city’s public parks and take action against government officers who failed to protect the amenity plots and facilitated in their grabbing.

The court also directed the advocate general to submit a compliance report with regard to the removal of encroachments at public parks and to demolish the unauthorised constructions.

The country’s top court had directed the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to remove political offices and encroachments from public parks at Kashmir Road and other parts of the city.

The SC directed the Sindh government, the KDA and the KMC to ensure the removal of encroachments from all playgrounds to make them available to the public so they may visit them without any hindrance.