The Capital Development Authority (CDA), despite its huge size and structure, has failed to fulfil its responsibilities fully, particularly when it comes to providing civic facilities to all the residents of the capital city.
Apart from some upscale localities, most of the city’s neighbourhoods are rife with sanitation, water scarcity, environmental issues and rampant encroachments.
While the kiosks of every kind are being opened on the city greenbelts and stalls are encroaching sidewalks every day but the CDA is playing the role of a silent spectator.
Some neighbourhoods such as Aabpara, Faizabad, Melody, Blue Area, Super Market, Jinnah Super market, Peshawar Road Market, Karachi Company Market, F-10 Markaz, F-8 Markaz, F-11 Markaz, G-11 Markaz and a few others have become the victim of worst kind of encroachment.
The encroachers have set up kiosks and stalls in the city’s big markets, which are causing inconvenience to the citizens. The encroachers have also established small eateries on the greenbelts, which badly affect the city’s beauty. It is also observed that the encroachers have placed chairs and seats on the sidewalks in the city’s busy markets and these encroachments are a constant source of inconvenience for the residents.
The residents allege the encroachments are mushrooming because some of the CDA’s staff extorts money from encroachers instead of removing them from the public property.
They say that’s was why the encroachments are on the rise everywhere in the city despite tall claims of CDA’ enforcement directorate that they are conducting operation against encroachers on daily basis. “They CDA’s relevant department only takes action against those encroachers who refuse to pay them hefty bribes”, a wary resident complained.
Moreover, the CDA drives against encroachments have little effect since most of the encroachers re-establish their businesses soon after any official campaign. Some citizens also complain that they reoccupy their vacated areas in connivance with the CDA’s officials.
It is also observed the shopkeepers in different markets especially at the Blue Area and Aabpara place their goods out of their shops on the sidewalks which causes trouble for shoppers.
A CDA official, seeking anonymity, told this scribe that the authority have conducted several operations against small vendors for encroaching but because of the ill-planning of the departments concerned the vendor recapture the place they are removed from.
About the shopkeepers who encroach upon sidewalks along their shops, he admitted that they encroach upon empty public property in connivance with some of the officials of CDA’s enforcement directorate.
He said the owners of various restaurants located in the Blue Area and Melody Market have also encroached upon the CDA’s land and other vacant places near their outlets to expand their services. But, he said, they do it illegally causing problems for the general public.
The official said the CDA’s enforcement directorate, despite its huge infrastructure has failed to improve its performance.
The citizens have demanded the high authorities should take notice of the situation and remove the encroachments in order to facilitate people and maintain city’s beauty.
Most of the customers avoid coming to these markets because of these encroachments, the official added.
