This is apropos a letter ‘KDA chief’s praiseworthy resolve’ carried by the newspaper on Friday. I couldn’t agree more.

Needless to say, such encroachments cause a great deal of inconvenience to motorists and pedestrians alike.

They also cause an adverse impact on city’s development prospects. In my view, however, the mushroom growth of high-rise buildings that has taken place by turning ground-floor plus housing units into multi-storied buildings in sheer violation of building control rules and regulations is the most dangerous form of encroachment that has immensely affected the availability of required water and discharge of sewage in almost all areas of Karachi.

The number of such buildings in country’s economic hub perhaps runs into tens of thousands. Such constructions, in a large number of cases, were carried out in violation of technical and legal requirements.

How ironic however it is that successive provincial and local governments have done nothing to arrest the slide; they have in fact contributed to the city’s civic woes on an unprecedented scale.

The KDA chief therefore has enormous task before him to accomplish. I too wish him success.

Riffat Shah

Karachi

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023