ver the past few years, encroachments on streets and in bazaars have increased a lot. There are so many street vendors who regularly occupy a major portion of the road, or put up their stalls by the roadside. That area is actually to be used by motorists to park their vehicles, but these people who sell their things on roads have already occupied it. Thus, there is no space available for people to park their cars. Moreover, if someone tries to park their car near the stall of a street vendor, he immediately comes and asks that person to move his car from there and park it somewhere else. Although he should realize that it is his set-up which is encroaching on the street and not the car.
Likewise, there are also a lot of restaurants and snack-bars nowadays, who put extra tables and chairs out on the street in the evening, to provide more room for their guests. They occupy the entire roadside leaving no space for parking.
Car parking is itself a big problem in major cities and obstructions like street encroachments and blockage of roads only makes it worse. Already there has been a drastic increase in the number of automobiles on the roads in recent years, and on top of that, the growing encroachments further limit the parking space available to motorists. Ultimately, all this leads to traffic jams, double parking, parking in prohibited areas and even accidents.
All these street vendors and restaurants have illegally occupied the roads, therefore, they must be removed and the streets should be cleared of all encroachments.
MADIHA VIQUAR
Karachi
