More than 100 Gujjar Nullah encroachments removed in Gulberg

The District Central administration on Wednesday removed more than 100 “soft encroachments” over the Gujjar Nullah that had caused the areas surrounding the storm water drain to be inundated during the recent torrential rains in Karachi.

District Central Deputy Commissioner Bux Dharejo told The News that the authorities carried out the operation on three strips: from Nala Stop to Cafe Piyala, to the Ziauddin Hospital and

to Lyari.

He said that a total of 105 illegal soft encroachments not involving residential units that were put up on the drain were removed by the district administration. Police escorted them to ensure a smooth run of the operation.

Dharejo said the administration also pointed out and collected data of houses and commercial units illegally built on the land of the nullah. He added that this data collection will continue until its completion.

He said the data will be sent to the Sindh government for the relocation of the people who will be affected by the operation before their houses or shops are demolished.

Ninth operation

This is the ninth operation at the Gujjar Nullah, which is around 15 years old. In 2018 a major operation was carried out and 2,900 illegal structures were removed. Then Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar had supervised the operation.

A high-level meeting was held seven years ago, when Fazlur Rehman was the Sindh chief secretary, to discuss encroachments. In that meeting heated arguments had taken place among the MNAs and MPAs of that time.

Rehman had ended the meeting, telling everyone to end their conflicts first. Then Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Dr Farooq Sattar had said that according to the dictionary, encroachments were illegal, and had demanded alternative land for those affected by the anti-encroachment operation.

Rehabilitation

Dharejo said the rehabilitation process could be tough, but he made the assurance that no one would be rendered without shelter because of the anti-encroachment operation.

He said that after the rehabilitation process was completed, the Gujjar storm water drain would be widened, and a road would be constructed on either side of the nullah. He stressed the importance of the Gujjar Nullah, saying that all the storm water drains pass through it.

Replying to a question, he said that the three phases of the operation would take around three months to complete, adding that the provincial government was responsible for providing the affected people with alternative accommodations.

Resistance

A heavy contingent of law enforcers, including the paramilitary Sindh Rangers, the anti-encroachment police and the local police, accompanied the district administration officials during the anti-encroachment operation.

The operation began at three locations in the city: in the area between Cafe Piyala and Teen Hatti, and another at a storm water drain in New Karachi. In some areas, the anti-encroachment team faced resistance from the residents.

The people affected by the operation in the Nazimabad and Liaquatabad neighbourhoods also held a protest against the anti-encroachment operation. However, no untoward incident was reported to have occurred.

A senior police officer said that officials of the paramilitary force and the police department were present on the scene to avoid disruption of law and order, adding that strict action would be taken against those who disturb the peace of the city.