SC orders illegally built wedding halls, offices in Karachi to be demolished
The Supreme Court's (SC) Karachi registry on Saturday ordered the city's administration to demolish all illegal buildings and offices built on land that was previously allocated to public parks.
Hearing a petition filed by former Karachi mayor Naimatullah Khan, a two-member SC bench comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Maqbool Baqar ordered the authorities to tear down wedding halls, political parties' offices and other illegal buildings along Kashmir Road as well as other parts of the city.
The court directed the authorities to "reclaim" all land that had been grabbed illegally.
"The city has being ruined," Justice Ahmed thundered at one point. "Is there anyone who will take responsibility for this city?"
He also demanded to know who was responsible for "building huge walls" on Sharea Faisal. Justice Ahmed also questioned the building of new shopping malls, saying that they seem to serve "no good" since locally manufactured products were not sold there.
"Even our labourers are losing their jobs to the Chinese now," he complained, possibly in reference to various sanitation projects in the city being handed over to foreign contractors.
The bench subsequently ordered authorities to demolish all illegal buildings constructed over public spaces, barring public amenities.
The court also ordered the Sindh's Advocate General, Barrister Zamir Ghumro, to submit a complete computerised record of the province's revenue along with details of its standard operating procedures within a month.
Kotri encroachments persist
News that 648 acres of government land was still plagued with illegal encroachments added to the court's annoyance with the city's administration. The assistant commissioner of Kotri was summoned to the Karachi registry and was ordered him to remove all encroachments from the area within a month.
"Take indiscriminate action against everyone involved [in setting up encroachments on government land]," the bench told the bureaucrat, warning him that "no one will protect you if you are found involved in any irregularity".
The process of removing encroachments shall start from Sunday morning, the court ordered.