SHC stops closure of Burnes Road in evening hours

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday ordered the Karachi administration to stop the closure of Burnes Road for traffic in the evening hours for the purpose of food street within two days.

The order came on a petition against closure of the road during the evening hours. Hearing the petition, a division bench of the high court headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi observed that the citizens’ fundamental rights could not be curtailed for the purpose of food street.

The court also ordered removal of encroachments from footpaths and surrounding streets of the road.

A provincial law officer submitted that the flow of traffic on many streets and arteries was stopped in several other cities like Karachi for a certain period for the purpose of setting up food streets.

The high court had observed that people had to face problems due to the closure of main streets and arteries and it also caused accidents. The petitioner’ counsel had submitted in the plea that an elderly woman had died due to the evening traffic restrictions on Burnes Road after she could not be provided emergency medical relief.

According to the petition, the residents of the Burnes Road area had been facing extreme difficulties due to the decision of the district administration to block the road between 7pm and 2am for the purpose of the food street.

The petitioner requested the SHC to direct the district administration to withdraw the notification with regard to the closure of roads so that the residents and other people were not denied access.

It is pertinent to mention that the Karachi administration had issued a notification with regard to the closure of Burns Road in the evening hours for the purpose of setting up a food street on the road. According to the notification issued on January 5, 2021, vehicles were not allowed on the street from 7pm onwards.