20 kilometres of Gujjar Nullah’s banks cleared of encroachments

During its major operation to remove encroachments from the massive Gujjar Nullah in the city’s District Central, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has reclaimed over 20 kilometres of the storm water drain’s banks.

Anti-Encroachment Senior Director Bashir Siddiqui said on Thursday that on the directives of the Supreme Court and KMC Administrator Laeeq Ahmed, the operation was carried out from Nazimabad to Khamosh Colony and around 100 feet was cleared of soft encroachments.

He said that as many as four teams of the KMC are participating in the operation to clear both the sides of the drain simultaneously. The Gujjar Nullah is a 26km 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. Siddiqui said that the nullah is 13km on the right and 13km on the left, making it the largest storm water drain of the city.

He said that the purpose of the removal of soft encroachments surrounding the Gujjar Nullah is to make a passage for the KMC’s heavy machinery so that hard encroachments such as houses and shops can be knocked down.

Around 4,000 houses and commercial units on the nullah’s banks that have been identified by the District Central deputy commissioner’s office with the help of the KMC’s Katchi Abadis Department will be razed during the operation during the second phase.

District Korangi

Siddiqui said that in District Korangi, an anti-encroachment operation was carried out from the Chiragh Hotel in Landhi all the way until Korangi No. 5. He said that several makeshift shops of wood and steel encroaching footpaths and roads were demolished. Several kiosks, cabins, and tables and chairs of hotels and tea shops were seized. The operation was supervised by District Korangi Director Musarrat Ali Khan.

District East

Siddiqui said that in District East, an anti-encroachment operation was carried out from in Jamshed Division’s Fatima Jinnah Colony under the supervision of Deputy Director Ameen Lakhani. Several kiosks, pushcarts, and tables and chairs of tea shops and restaurants were seized during the operation. Steel quarters in the locality were also razed.