Encroachments removed

The anti-encroachment staff of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) on Thursday demolished illegal structures and hotels around the Firdous Cinema in Liaquatabad. KMC Senior Director Anti-Encroachments Bashir Siddiqui said the slow pace of work was due to a shortage of machinery.

Notices issued

The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) issued notices to more than 400 people for the removal of encroachments.

A KWSB statement said shops, hotels, cattle pens and other illegal structures had been constructed on water and sewerage lines. A full-fledged operation would be carried out with the help of the anti-encroachment staff to remove all encroachments.

Bachat bazaars

Moreover, Chairman Enterprise and Investment Promotion Qaisar Imtiaz of the KMC said more than 100 illegal bachat bazaars in the city would be removed next week. He said notices to the owners of these bazaars had been issued already.

Boy dies

A young boy was killed after the roof of a shop razed in the ongoing anti-encroachment drive collapsed in Korangi No 6 area on Thursday, a Geo News report said.

According to police, the six-year-old boy, identified as Osama, was a garbage collector and was pulling iron from the rubble of razed shops when the roof collapsed on him, killing him on the spot. Authorities added that an operation against illegal encroachments had taken place in the area a few days earlier.

Residents of the area said that garbage-picking children had been coming to the area since the operation began and collecting iron from the rubble of the demolished shops.