EDITORIAL: Lahore’s busy Jail Road near the Qurtaba Chowk this past Monday looked more like a scene from a political protest than car dealers resisting an anti-encroachment drive by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA).
They blocked the road, burnt tyres, and broke the seals affixed by the LDA staff on their business premises. This went on for several hours until anti-riot police arrived and restored order.
A spokesman for the city’s planning and development regulatory body later told journalists that during the clean-up operation 55 car showrooms were sealed.
Sheds, boards and porches of more than 80 shops were also pulled down to clear the space for parking and ensure smooth flow of traffic. More such action is to follow in other parts of the city as the administration has designated several other thoroughfares as model roads.
This can only be welcomed. But so many unauthorised constructions were not erected in the recent weeks or months. They have been there for years, breaking the law that forbids anyone from making an encroachment, moveable or immovable, on an open space or land vested or managed, maintained or controlled by a local government, or on, over or under a street.
It is an open secret that officers of the agencies concerned look the other way in rerun for monetary gratification. Bigger a project bigger those involved.
Infringers in such cases are helped by pressure groups associated with politically influential people, caring little about legalities or civic requirements.
Regarding violations in the present instance, the LDA spokesman said most of the showrooms on Jail Road are illegal since they cannot be built on land less than four kanals.
Yet such violations are galore everywhere. People with connections do not have to worry about following the rules. There is the appalling case of several private medical colleges that failed to fulfil such a basic prerequisite as an attached running hospital, yet their owners managed to get accreditation from the relevant regulatory authority. What kind of medical practitioners they are producing is better left unsaid.
Nevertheless, structures legal or illegal can be demolished if someone in authority finds them to be an eyesore.
A while ago, a number of shops in Karachi’s Empress Market were knocked down for that very reason even though their occupants were legitimate tenants of the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC).
Later, the 15-storey residential Nasla Tower was flattened on a week’s notice without any compensation to the families who had paid a lot of money to make new homes in it.
Those responsible for the illegal construction remained scot-free. Encroachments on public space must be removed, but those who allow them should also be held to account.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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