ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf has directed the NA’s standing committee on the interior to take notice of the encroachment of verandas and footpaths in commercial centers in Islamabad.
The Speaker took the step after the recent incident of thrashing of a family by workers of some food kiosks in the busy F-7 Markaz commercial center.
According to the details, the committee will discuss the matter and find the best possible ways to control the misuse of state land.
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has also planned to auction 300 kiosks in different parts of the city.
However, civic experts claim that the city does not need more kiosks as the current situation is already crowded, and the auction may not benefit poor and deserving people.
The CDA has failed to control the growing encroachments in Islamabad’s commercial centers, including Jinnah Super Market, Super Market, F-8 Markaz, F-10 Markaz, and Aabpara Market, among others.
The residents have complained that illegal kiosks and encroached footpaths and verandas in major markets make it difficult for them to move.
Small vendors and food outlets have encroached on green areas and green belts in the markets, challenging the writ of the CDA, the sources reported.
Unchecked encroachments in underdeveloped sectors have prevented their development, as evidenced by the fast-growing encroachments in Mehrabad Village where two sectors G-12 and F-12 are to be developed.
These two sectors are now considered the most difficult to acquire, where hundreds of houses and huge industrial units have been constructed illegally.
Source: DAWN
