Brightly painted green check posts are a common feature in the area around Mian Hamza Sharif’s residence in Model Town’s H-Block. There are popular complaints about the roads around the area being blocked for hours when the Sharif family is moving in and out of their house.

Since the PML-N government came into power in Punjab in 2008, the security around the area has been strengthened. People living in the same lane have to go through extra security checks to get to their places. While other security gates in Model Town are shut only after 10pm, the gates near the Sharif residence are kept closed at all times -- a security guard posted at each 24/7.

The newest addition to this security entourage is a helicopter. "We were awoken one night by a loud jarring sound and didn’t know what it was. Later we were told it was a helicopter being used by the Sharif family to get to their residence," says Noreen Bhatti who lives a couple of lanes away.

Another resident of the area Mrs Arshad thinks the arrangement is better than blocking the roads.

She doesn’t even find the noise created thus as problematic. "It’s a good distraction for the kids," she says, pointing to the two toddlers playing about. "It only comes twice a week, not more. We are not bothered by it but there are people in the street behind us who complain some of their wires were cut because of strong winds that were caused by the helicopter’s rotor blades."

The helicopter lands in a field enclosed by a brick wall and false wooden gates, with a board on one side that reads ‘Cricket Academy for Women’. Clearly, this is not a helipad. The area is a public property that used to be a dhobi ghaat (open air laundry space) but the Sharif government over the past six years has systematically and gradually enclosed the area.

According to Col (retd) Tahir Kardar, former president of the Model Town Society, the dhobi ghaat has been around since 1924. The government removed it a few years ago because its services were not being used.

"The people got other options such as laundries that have now opened up. The washers who worked there understood this. They did not create a lot of noise since they also thought that choosing other alternatives would be beneficial for them -- some said they’ll put up a street cart while some decided to work in open shops," he says.

In the first place, a Sunday Market, consisting of 200 shops, was introduced in the area which co-existed with the dhobi ghaat. Later, between 2009 and 2010, the market was shifted behind Pace on Link Road while the dhobis were moved out and the area flattened.

Most of them initially lived in a lane nearby called Dhobi Saraye but since their business was shut down, many moved away. Seventy years old Muhammad Aslam still lives there. Standing in the doorway of his house in a cloth tied around his waist, he says, "They asked us to leave so we left."

Aslam himself does not have a livelihood anymore and relies on his son’s income.

Talking to TNS, he says there were 12 to 13 dhobis who used the ghaat. "We had work."

His son agrees, "We did not want to put up a fight with the government. When has the common man been able to fight the government?"

The worst part is, they were not even compensated for.

Muhammad Zafar, an old resident of Model Town, remembers the dhobi ghaat as an active place that was brimming with life. He considers it one of his fondest memories. "And, now that the park is barren, it has been barricaded and walls erected on all four sides which means it is a ‘prohibited’ zone. The beauty of the place has also been marred in this way."

While the land did not belong to dhobis and they had been allowed to use it by the government, taking it away so unceremoniously robbed them of a source of livelihood. When it was opened the area seemed to serve more public good that it does now, what with the walls and limited access.

According to Mrs Arshad, the park would always be teeming with children from adjoining areas, "They would come in the evening, mark out their own spots and begin to play. Most of them did not have economically sound backgrounds and, therefore, do not have that space within their houses."

The issue remains, as the ground which was previously open to all and filled with activity now lies vacant. "It is only occasionally that a team comes here to play," Mrs Arshad adds.

While she is happy that the mess of the Sunday bazaar has been cleared up, she feels enclosing the field has been a loss to the community.

The field opposite this one is also being barricaded now. Steel structures are being raised and wired fence is expected to be added later. The toll tax collector in the area, on condition of anonymity, says this is because the "helicopter begins its descent here. They need to ensure there are no people in the field."

He terms the whole thing a nuisance. "Traffic is stopped for four hours before the helicopter arrives."

In the past few years, we have seen barricades, fences and walls go up in the name of security. Pubic movement is hindered and curtailed throughout the city; yet people put up with long queues at security check posts, large chunks of roads barricaded in front of VIP residents in the name of protection.

In Model Town, a whole new phenomenon seems to be taking place -- public property is being closed off to the common man for the security of the privileged few.

Muhammad Zafar hits the nail on the head when he says, "We feel some sense of security too but on a larger level we feel ourselves becoming captive to the ruling elite in the name of security. It also creates a sense of fear since the entire H Block was not guarded like this before."

Ultimately, it is the residents who have to pay the price.

Questions of security and curtailment of civil liberties are important here. Unless these issues are addressed properly, the government shall continue to encroach upon public property as it did in this part of Model Town. Such matters demand a closer -- and critical -- look. And, the residents of the said area must be taken on board.