Encroachers gobble up MCR areas

Rawalpindi : The encroachment mafia has gobbled up space in the city. The enforcement department of Metropolitan Corporation Rawalpindi (MCR) is finding it difficult to remove thousands of encroachments in the city in the wake of the recent complaints in this regard.

“Despite carrying out operations at Raja Bazaar, Satellite Town, Saidpur Road, Barra Bazaar, Iqbal Road, Liaquat Road, Sadiqabad, and Trunk Bazaar, shop owners have allowed stalls and carts to occupy space in front of their shops,” says Zargul Ali.

“Unmindful of the misery caused to pedestrians and commuters, the roadside vendors, traders, and shopkeepers have occupied almost every inch of roads by placing stalls and other stuff causing problems for commuters and pedestrians. Several vendors who sell fast food items at cheap rates have converted the place into an open-air eating house,” says Sibt-e-Haider.

“The ambitious plan to beautify the areas has gone into the deep freezer. Observers say the Metropolitan Corporation Rawalpindi is supposed to check all roadside encroachments, and should form a more powerful anti-encroachment authority,” says Jafar Raza.

“Time-bound clearance of thousands of encroachments in different parts of the city on roads, public streets, parks, and other municipal properties, in itself is a gigantic task as hundreds of influential persons guilty of unlawful occupation of municipal or government land, make the job more difficult,” says Hasan Mehdi.

“While time is ticking away for the removal of odd encroachments, the MCR is apparently going slow about the whole thing for a variety of reasons. The first reason, and understandably too, is that once anti-encroachment operation started, the drive against encroachments would stir a hornet’s nest,” says Shafaat Hussain.

“The detailed list of encroachments submitted by the citizens is a virtual compilation of who’s who among the business and industrial community, politicians of all hues, educational institutions, hospitals, and top professionals,” says Takreem Hussain.

“According to the list, public roads and streets are under encroachments. Similarly, municipal parks and covered drains in many city localities are under the unlawful occupation of influential persons for residential, commercial, and industrial purposes for years together,” adds Takreem.

“Several institutions are among those charged with encroachment on public land; many other places are also in the same category. The leaders of business and commerce are among the defaulters as far as encroachments are concerned,” says Husnain Abbas.

“The names of some of the prominent doctors in the city also feature in the detailed list, who are charged with encroaching upon parts of public streets or parks, adjoining their properties,” says Zulqurnain Ali.

Ashar Hussain, a senior MCR official says, “The exercise is on to issue mandatory notices to the defaulters for clearance of encroachments at their level. We shall initiate necessary action to clear the encroachments if the guilty persons fail to respond within the stipulated period.”