SC orders Sindh govt to pay KMC Rs200m to clear debris, says anti-encroachment drive will continue

The Supreme Court has ordered that the anti-encroachment drive in Karachi will continue and has given the authorities six weeks to demolish illegally constructed houses in the city.

It also ordered during the hearing at its Karachi Registry on Wednesday, the Sindh government to pay the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation Rs200 million to clear the debris from the demolished shops.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, rejected a request to stop the drive at Lighthouse and Lunda Bazaar. It said there will be no help for illegally constructions.

Can anyone even think of making these shops in Washington or London, asked the judges. The bench said amenity plots, footpaths and parks will continue to be cleared of encroachments.

Related: Destroying houses not part of anti-encroachment drive, clarifies CJP

The advocate general of Sindh requested the court to order the federal government to monetarily aid in the operation. He argued that the entire issue arose due to KMC’s negligence.

Justice Faisal Arab however observed that the Sindh government had been sitting by while encroachments spread with its eyes closed.

When the advocate general argued that the KMC was dismantling houses using the names of the SBCA and Supreme Court, the judges ordered that the operation should continue according to the law.

Mayor Wasim Akhtar submitted a compliance report to the court in which he also listed the KMC’s future plans. He also listed down where shops will be relocated. According to his report, the KMC has made arrangements for 2,105 new shops to be constructed.

Four hundred shops will be constructed in the plot in front of the Parking Plaza in Saddar. Stores will also be set up on the ground and mezzanine floors of the plaza itself.

Related: How a tenant became an encroachment in Empress Market

There is space behind the Kharadar police station to construct 265 stores, while 1,200 stores will be constructed in a plot belonging to the Board of Revenue in Boulton Market.

Speaking to the media outside the court, Akhtar said they have submitted their next plan to the court. We will be demolishing illegal roads and houses in all six districts, he said. However, he said they will not demolish any houses without prior notice.

He noted that politicians such as Farooq Sattar or those from the PTI or JI who consistently “misguided the people” have been conspicuously absent for the past two days that the chief justice has been at the Karachi Registry. They were crying crocodile tears, he remarked.