It is good to note that the Punjab government has decided to launch massive operation clean up all sorts of encroachments without any discrimination.
But quite unfortunately and regrettably, even after the passage of about four months, there are no signs of this clean-up operation in Lahore or anywhere else in the province for that matter.
In this regard, we must ask, where is the mayor of Lahore who should have been leading the operation clean up in pursuance of the chief minister’s directions? The mayor is nowhere to be seen and the encroachments are not only present, they are also increasing with every passing day.
The chief minister had quite rightly directed the police and the administration to extend full cooperation to the district governments in this regard to ensure the desired objectives of removal of all encroachments are achieved in the shortest possible time and so that this clean and neat look is retained permanently.
In fact, the elected district governments all over the province should have taken this much desirable decision of removal of encroachments from cities and towns soon after their own induction in the offices on priority basis. Still, better late than never.
Since Lahore is to be cleaned up especially, the mayor of Lahore should go through the record – if it is available in Jinnah Hall somewhere – about the much laudable anti-encroachments campaign which Mian Muhammad Azhar, who later also became Governor Punjab, had launched several years back when he was the Mayor. He had personally supervised removal of encroachments campaign and not left this entirely to the staff to do it or not.
In the first instance, the staff concerned should be pulled up and plainly told that they have to do this monumental task of removal of encroachments and stop greasing their palms.
Secondly, the people at large should either remove the encroachments voluntarily before the operation clean up is undertaken or cooperate with the staff concerned if at all they come to do their job.
EM ZEE RIFAT
Lahore
