Commissioner orders removal of encroachments from roads to resolve traffic congestion

Karachi Commissioner Syed Hassan Naqvi has held a meeting to discuss a campaign for removing soft encroachments that have been causing traffic congestion in Karachi.

The commissioner said measures would be taken to prevent re-encroachment and ensure effective enforcement of the law. All the deputy commissioners of the city attended the meeting via video link on Saturday.

Additional Commissioner-II Syed Ghazanfar Ali Shah, Assistant Commissioner Headquarters Rabia Syed, and others were also present on the occasion. The meeting discussed various measures and resolved to take legal action against those who would again set up encroachments.

It was said that the roads from where encroachments were removed and traffic congestion improved would be monitored to maintain the flow of traffic and prevent re-encroachments.

The meeting also discussed alternative measures to resolve traffic congestion. South Deputy Commissioner Altaf Sario reported that action had been taken to remove encroachments causing traffic congestion on various roads, including Akbar Road, Abdullah Haroon Road, MA Jinnah Road, II Chundrigar Road, Garden Nishtar Road, Chakiwara and Paper Market.

According to the East deputy commissioner, encroachments had been removed from the Continental Bakery road, Khudadad Colony, Soldier Bazaar and other areas in the district.

The commissioner was informed that the barriers erected by citizens on various streets of Gulshan-e-Iqbal had also been removed.

The meeting decided that the District East administration would take action against encroachments from Hassan Square to Nipa Chowrangi. The commissioner stated that the encroachments on University Road had been affecting the flow of traffic, and measures were needed on a priority basis to resolve the issue. The meeting also issued directives for taking action against encroachments in Safoora Goth.

Central Deputy Commissioner Fawad Ghaffar Somroo reported that action against encroachers had been taken in District Central at Water Pump and Ayesha Manzil, and arrangements had been made to remove encroachments at Five Star Chowrangi.

The meeting resolved to work with officials from the wildlife department to remove the bird market from Liaquatabad permanently. The deputy commissioner noted that the bird market had been removed several times before, with action taken almost every week. Keamari Deputy Commissioner Junaid Khan stated that encroachments had been removed from 12 roads and service roads in District Keamari, including SITE, Rashidabad and Manghopir Road. He mentioned that a truck parking had been removed from a road and service road in the Hawkesbay area.