KARACHI, Aug 23: Besides the insatiable greed of certain elements, the defunct Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s decision to levy land-use charges on fast-food outlets and restaurants doing business on footpaths, the city’s roads and footpaths seem to be vanishing.

Even a few big hotels and some private hospitals have illegally occupied portions of service roads and footpaths either by marking that area as parking lots for their officials or by putting up barricades, thus forcing the pedestrians to walk on main roads amidst vehicular traffic.

Besides, footpaths of two major thoroughfares -– Khalid bin Waleed Road and New M. A. Jinnah Road -– have been illegally occupied by owners of car showrooms.

At a number of places in Karachi, one could see islands that bifurcate roads with the service roads exclusively being used as extensions of eating houses and hotels.

During a visit to various parts of the city one would see that footpaths on both sides of major thoroughfares and streets have either vanished or have been heavily encroached upon by fast-food outlets, restaurants and barbecue shops.

Owners of these eating houses have not only put up chairs and tables for serving meals to their customers, but have also affixed heavy cooking utensils, sizzling stoves, tandoors and other paraphernalia on footpaths, exposing people, especially children, to the hazards of burners.

Sources in the city government said that taking undue advantage of the defunct KMC’s ‘unrealistic’ decision of collecting land-use charges from hotels and fast-food restaurants doing business on footpath, officials of the land departments of both the city and different town administrations had not only permitted barbecue shops and restaurants to serve their customers on footpaths but had even allowed cabin-holders to do their business on footpaths, compounding the sufferings of pedestrians.

The practice of illegally occupying roads and footpaths is so rampant that a barbeque shops and a fast-food outlet have included a portion of Sharah-i-Quaideen’s service road within their premises after getting the service road’s access closed.

Similarly, a hospital has grabbed portion of a major road, off Sunset Boulevard in DHA, on the plea that it will be used for parking of doctors’ cars, which is causing hindrance to the smooth flow of traffic on the adjoining roads.

The menace of encroachment of roads, streets and footpaths has in the past few years spread to almost every part of the city.

Although various major roads and a large numbers of footpaths have been occupied by shopkeepers, pushcarts and vendors, officials of different town administrations are completely oblivious to the growing problem and except for occasional “campaigns” two or three times a year, have not cared to solve the problem once for all.

Already at least three footpaths which existed Fresco Chowk and Jamia Cloth Market on Mohammad Bin Qasim Road (Burnes Road), Karimabad’s Meena Bazaar and Faisal Bazaar, have already vanished as a number of shops and cabins have sprung up there with the connivance of officials concerned.

The footpaths of New M. A. Jinnah Road (from Islamia College to Jail Chowrangi) and PECHS’ Khalid Bin Waleed Road (from Noorani Chowk to Cheel Kothi) are being exclusively used by car showrooms for parking their vehicles and, thus literarily leaving no space for pedestrians to walk on. A number of accidents involving pedestrians have already taken place there as they have no choice but to walk on roads amidst vehicular traffic.

The menace of encroachments could be seen all along major thoroughfares and on their footpaths including Saddar Town’s Mohammad Bin Qasim Road (formerly Burnes Road), Shahrah-i-Liaquat (Frere Road), main University Road (especially from Hassan Square to the Ashfaq Memorial Hospital), main Gulistan-i-Jauhar Road, Khalid Bin Waleed Road, New M. A. Jinnah Road, S. M. Taufiq Road, Sharah-i-Pakistan, Sardar Abdr Rab Nishtar Road, etc.

Ironically, whenever the issue of encroachment is discussed with the relevant officials of towns and the CDGK, they usually take the plea that they are generating funds for the CDGK and the town concerned by permitting hotels, fast-food restaurants and barbeque shops to place chairs and tables on footpaths for serving their customers.