Encroachments were removed from two stormwater drains in Karachi on Wednesday. A drive was conducted by the KMC in Central, East and West districts.

In District Central, the KMC anti-encroachment teams
conducted the drive in Liaquatabad at the Sindhi Hotel near ‘Daakhana’.

Makeshift cattle farms and other non-concrete structures were
then removed from the Orangi nullah in District West.

District East was next. Illegal structures were razed from Songal
nullah in Lemo Goth, Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The operation at Songal drain is continuing
for the second consecutive day.

The KMC anti-encroachment team confiscated hotel chairs,
tables, cabins, gas cylinders, puncture shop equipment and pushcarts during the
operation in Liaquatabad near Sindhi Hotel.

Bashir Siddiqui, the senior director of the department, said
it is being done on the orders of the Supreme Court.

He said the team has already demolished illegal structures
from Gujjar nullah and New Karachi nullah, but there are still plenty of
encroachments on these stormwater drains.

“We have started removing encroachments from Songal and
Orangi nullahs,” Siddiqui said.

Anti-encroachment drives are regularly being conducted in Central,
East and West districts. Korangi and Malir districts, however, are yet to be
addressed.

The KMC senior director said the anti-encroachment
department will start a drive in Korangi and Malir with a proper
plan.