4,000 houses to be demolished to clear banks of Gujjar Nullah

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) Anti-Encroachment Department will start its operation to clear the banks of the massive Gujjar Nullah on Monday. Anti-Encroachment Senior Director Bashir Siddiqui said that around 4,000 houses have been marked by the district administration for demolition.

Siddiqui said that during the first phase starting on Monday, soft encroachments will be removed, just like in the case of the Mehmoodabad Nullah anti-encroachment operation. Soft encroachments like animal dens, small hotels, kiosks, iron grills, gates and balconies will be removed, which will help pave the way for the KMC’s heavy machinery to enter the area, he added.

He said that according to the plan, the Gujjar Nullah will be widened to at least 60 feet, while at some points to 70 to 80 feet. Around 30-feet-wide road will also be constructed on both sides of the storm water drain, he added.

As for the residents who will be deprived of their homes, Siddiqui said that they will be provided with house rent for two years as compensation. For this purpose, he explained, a survey has already been completed by the District Central deputy commissioner’s office, and a list of affected families has been compiled. The Gujjar Nullah is a natural drain flowing from New Karachi to Haji Mureed Goth’s Chona Depot, where it falls into the Lyari River. The nullah crosses Rashid Minhas Road at Shafiq Morr and heads towards the Cafe Piyala Hotel, then all the way to the Ziauddin Hospital before falling into the Lyari River.

District Korangi

Siddiqui said that encroachments were removed in District Korangi on Wednesday. He said that the action took place at a food street around a school on 9,000 Road, where footpaths were cleared of different kinds of planks, while several makeshift shops were also demolished.

Pushcarts, kiosks, tables and chairs of hotels, stoves placed on footpaths and roads, and gas cylinders were removed from the area. KMC’s Korangi Director Musarrat Ali Khan supervised the operation.

District South

In District South’s Lea Market, another anti-encroachment action took place on Wednesday. Chairs and tables of different hotels and tea shops were seized by the KMC’s anti-encroachment team. Gas cylinders, stoves, puncture shops, pushcarts and other objects were also removed.