Lahore: Two weeks later: Anti-encroachment campaign effectively ineffective

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Officials reluctant to continue operation because of lack of security
* Shopkeepers re-establishing encroachments on same spots as before
* TMO says both sides of road will be cleared by Sunday
* Says road will most likely be widened

By Afnan Khan

LAHORE: Encroachments are popping up faster than the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) can remove them as encroachment owners assaulted officials and demoralised the movement.

The Samanabad Town administration’s anti-encroachment campaign faced major problems when, during their work on the first side of the street, their workers were allegedly beaten up and harassed by the owners of an estate agency when they tried to remove illegal structures built by them. The officials informed the police and cases were registered against the attackers, however, the workers, who were supposed to demolish structures on the other side of the road. They claimed reluctant claiming that they did not have enough security to foil another attack.

The incident took place some time before Eid, when the administration decided to either widen the road or construct a service lane on it to cope with the massive traffic load on Wahdat Road. The presence of a number of academic institutes, including Punjab University, Government College of Science Wahdat Road and a number of public and private schools in the area significantly added to the traffic jams.

Re-established: Officials started the operation from Naqsha Stop and kept removing structures with the help of bulldozers, trucks and manual labour while personnel from the Police, LDA and other agencies co-operated with CDGL officials to carry out the operation. However, shopkeepers who had previously invested in building structures and installed ovens, stalls and other things like tables and chairs have since redeveloped similar structures on the same spots. This is a direct result of no officials from the CDGL monitoring the road following the campaign to ensure that it was working.

At the launch of the first anti-encroachment operation on November 28, the Samanabad town municipal officer (TMO) told Daily Times that the administration would be removing encroachments from the other side of the main road on the next day because their workers had gotten tired after the day-long effort. The town administration has been unable to deliver on their commitment due to the hesitation of workers and alleged influence used by shopkeepers to keep their encroached spaces.

Clear by Sunday: However, the TMO claimed on Saturday that the town administration had started the operation on the second side of the road and the structures on the other side of the road would be removed by Sunday. He said that the delay had not been because of the reluctance and hesitation of the officers because of the incidents of violence during the first operation, but was instead caused by certain internal delays.

Widened: He also said that the CDGL would most likely widen the road and ensure that the road remained clear of encroachments with follow-up operations and monitoring. He said that offenders found putting up more encroachments would be severely punished.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...008_pg13_1

[Naveed Yaseen]

Anti-encroachment drive fails to serve purpose
By Mansoor Ahmad
AN operation launched Saturday morning outside Dharampura market to clear encroachments from both sides of the roads failed as encroachers returned as soon as the raiding team left.

Permanent structures razed during the raid were not rebuilt but other encroachers were back within an hour.

The Saturday’s raid was no different from raids routinely conducted by authorities. A truck that moves with the raiding team is used to load goods found illegally placed on the road. The seizure of goods causes panic with local government staff trying to snatch as much as they can and encroachers trying to move goods inside their shops or load them onto hand carts. Those who are targeted first are caught unawares while majority flee well in time when the raiding team begins its operation. Carts, however, are again parked along side the road soon after the raid is over.

This is wastage of time, effort and money. In order to make these raids more effective, a system should be put in place to ensure that people do not encroach on roads. In fact, there is a need to create awareness among people about the sanctity of public land. Roads are built for traffic movement and there would be traffic jams if these are encroached upon. If footpaths are occupied then pedestrians would have to walk on roads at the risk of their lives.

The Punjab government led by Mian Shahbaz Sharif successfully removed all encroachments from the main Garhi Shahu Bazaar during 1998 to 1999. It widened the main bazaar road being used by people coming from GT Road when the old Garhi Shahu Bridge was demolished to construct a wider bridge linking the Allama Iqbal Road to the GT Road. The road had now been encroached on again, blocking an alternate route to GT road.

The district governments are fully aware that no one can encroach on government land without the ‘help’ of officials deputed to ensure that state infrastructure is free from encroachments. Cart owners and shopkeepers certainly pay some price to use land for commercial purposes. Officials help encroachers as they raid infrequently and also take a lenient view when encroachments reappear after raids.

Traffic police is duty bound not to allow any fruit or vegetable vendor to use roads for their businesses. The fact that hand-driven and animal-driven carts loaded with fruit, vegetable or other items are routinely parked on roads gives credence to reports that each spot has some price. There would be no encroachments on roads if the Punjab government holds regulators accountable and takes them to task in case encroachers reappear after raids.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=151780