Anti-encroachment operation on Gujjar Nullah to take three months, say officials

The survey of more than 3,000 residential units along the Gujjar Nullah has been completed. It will take three months to complete the operation.

This was stated by Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Anti-Encroachment Director Bashir Siddiqi and District Central Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Bux Dharejo as they spoke with The News on Saturday.

Siddiqi said the survey was the first requirement of the anti-encroachment operation, after which the second and third phases of the operation would begin.

He explained that the ongoing anti-encroachment operation was only targeting soft encroachments to avoid any kind of law and order issue as the residents along the nullah had been living there since long. He explained that currently only structures for commercial purposes were being demolished as the government had ordered them not to knock down any house.

He added that the operation that was being carried out to comply with orders of the Supreme Court.

The two officials said the nullah had to be widened to its original width that was more than 100 feet. They added that as per the strategic plan to widen the drain, roads would be constructed on both sides of it to ensure that no encroachments could be set up there.

Meanwhile, the residents are not willing to vacate their homes. They demand alternative houses for them as promised by the prime minister.

The Gujjar Nullah operation has been extended to the Orangi Town nullah and many illegal structures were marked there.

Siddiqi said Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah was monitoring the operation on a daily basis. He added that the Gujjar Nullah was a historical rainwater drain and it used to irrigate agricultural land in its surroundings before the creation of Pakistan.

He explained that many anti-encroachment operations went unsuccessful in the past due to protests by the residents but this time there was negligible resistance.

He added that environmental experts would also be engaged to beautify District Central.

A few days ago, scores of residents of Rehmanabad gathered at Gulberg’s Tahir Villa Chowrangi for a protest, which caused a massive gridlock as they blocked the flow of traffic for hours by placing tyres on the road.

The protesters said they had been living in the surroundings of the Gujjar Nullah for years, but no government official had ever stopped them from constructing their homes. They accused government officials of taking bribes from them when they had been building their houses, saying that now the same government officials were claiming that the residents were living illegally.