The City Council on Tuesday hailed the Supreme Court's verdict against illegal apartments and encroachments, but appealed to the court in a resolution to review its decision not to exempt residential constructions on KMC amenity plots, citing humanitarian grounds.
Residential buildings are being razed in a continuing anti-encroachment drive, it said The resolution said justice must be done to the flats' poor occupants-who have maintained official documents, including electricity and gas bills they are regularly paying-and they should not be evicted solely on the basis of their flats having been built on amenity plots.
The occupants were even issued allotment orders by government departments, it noted, and they are regularly paying their utility bills. The residents have spent their life savings to acquire the apartments, and they should not be forced to become homeless, the resolution reads.
It was unanimously passed in the council, following a heated debate between the treasury and the opposition. Defending the resolution, Arif Khan Advocate said the residents are deeply distressed ever since the anti-encroachment drive began, and any action to evict them from their homes would be gross injustice, he said.
Mayor Waseem Akhtar asked Hanif Surti and Arif Khan Advocate to approach the Supreme Court on the subject on the KMC's behalf, together with other council members. In another resolution, the council asked for the formation of a committee to hold meetings with officials of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board on water issues.
The managing director of the KW&SB should participate in council meetings and address complaints from the members, it said. The managing director should brief the council about the water situation, the distribution mechanism, and budgetary allocations for new pipelines. the resolution said.
Aman Afredi, parliamentary leader of the PML-N in the council, said the Supreme Court should take action against government officials involved in issuing allotment orders and documents allowing 15-year leases to the residents. "I was eyewitness to a person dying of a heart attack when his home was being demolished by the anti-encroachment team," he said.
Firdous Shamim Naqvi of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) asked for immediate action against venders encroaching footpaths and portions of roads in many neighborhoods of the city. The council also passed a memorandum resolution of Municipal Commissioner seeking bylaws (function and administration) of the KMC's information technology department with a unanimous vote.
The Council condemned the recent suicide blast on Quetta Church that left some nine persons dead while several others injured. It observed a one minute silence to express solidarity with the victims' families. In another resolution, the council condemned US President Donald Trump's controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Condemning Trump's decision, Junaid Mekati of Jamat-e-Islami proposed an Islamic military alliance to defend the collective interests of the Muslim world, particularly for the independence of Baitul Muqaddas. He said Muslim countries should introduce an Islamic currency to strengthen the economic defence of Muslims. He said the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) should establish a fund to support the Palestinians resistance against Israel.
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