SC order to remove encroachments in Karachi reignites fear of mass displacement

• Victims of earlier drives accuse municipal staff of taking bribes to return their seized goods
• Authorities must take sufferings of ordinary people into account before taking ‘reckless decision’, opines lawyer

KARACHI: While the Supreme Court has ordered the authorities to remove within three days encroachments from all roads and footpaths, people feared that civic authorities would again allegedly misuse the apex court’s directives to uproot thousands of people earning their livelihoods in and around hundreds of small and big markets in the city without giving them sufficient time and compensation.

Back in 2018, a massive anti-encroachment drive was carried out in the city on the directives of the Supreme Court under which small carts and stalls were removed from different roads and streets, but till date, most affectees had not been given any compensation.

The authorities did not return seized goods to a large number of vendors. Many alleged that the municipal staff concerned and police returned their seized pushcarts and valuables after taking bribes.

Thousands of families have been rendered homeless following a demolition drive along three major stormwater drains in the city and they have been running from pillar to post for years to get promised compensation but in vain.

While the apex court’s recent order is widely hailed in terms of encroachments that have been occupying spaces meant to be used by the public, it doesn’t sit right with vendors.

“My husband Ghulam used to put a stall of samosas outside Empress Market. Last time when an anti-encroachment drive took place, police seized his cart without any prior notice,” Sakina Wali, 43, a housemaid, told Dawn.

“We had to literally beg them to return it back to us. My husband was abused and humiliated by the staff concerned, and we had to pay them a hefty amount of Rs20,000 to get our cart back,” she said.

She claimed that her husband had a permit to conduct business on the street.

Kausar Bibi, who used to put a stall of spices outside the same Empress Market had a similar story. She is the sole breadwinner of a family of six, that includes four children, and she never returned to the market, instead she started her business outside Meena Bazaar, Karimabad.

“I am scared because I don’t think I can afford to shift again to somewhere else. If they can come for us once, they won’t shy away from putting it all to waste again,” she said, tinge of fear evident in her voice.

Lawyer and human rights activist Abira Ashfaq provided insight on the situation, emphasising that the government must adhere to legal procedures regarding encroachments.

She stressed the importance of examining the necessity for the space by authorities and highlighted the need for a sufficient notice period for individuals using the land to relocate, along with financial assistance provided by the government.

“There are international guidelines about illegal land occupations. Instead of making irrational ‘reckless’ decisions, the authorities must take the sufferings of common people into account and understand that whether an occupation is legal or illegal, it requires a procedure and a notice period and financial compensation should be provided,” Ms Ashfaq said.

Welcoming the decision to remove barricades, lawyer and rights activist Jibran Nasir voiced apprehension that the SC directive may cause confusion among small business owners on the streets.

Also on Saturday, a three-judge SC bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa issued its written order, directing the federal and all provincial governments to clear public roads and pavements of all encroachments within three days.

“Pavements are for the use of the public; access thereto and use thereof cannot be prevented or restricted. Everyone, including the provincial and Federal governments, and all those under them must abide by the law and cannot encroach upon public roads and pavements nor can block them which may stop or restrict public use thereof”, the order said, and added: “Citizens must not be inconvenienced. Those paid out of the public exchequer serve the people, and not vice versa. The misplaced exceptionalism negates the Constitution and the rule of law.”

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2024