HYDERABAD: The anti-encroachment drive in Hyderabad which had to be abruptly stopped in August after death of two persons during demolition work will resume on October 26, according to the deputy commissioner.

It was decided to inform people about such operations through advertisements in the media instead of only serving notices to individuals.

DC Saleem Rajput has got 22-member traffic management board, headed by him, notified through the chief secretary to ensuring better traffic regulation in the city.

Two persons were killed and several others injured when the district administration’s demolition squad pulled down an unauthorised structure comprising shops and a beam fell on onlookers on Aug 9.

Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC) staffers’ team led by Syed Asim Abbas Zaidi was accompanying the demolition squad.

Market police had registered a murder case against Mr Zaidi and Shahbaz Rizvi alias Pappi on the complaint of Qazi Rehmatullah, the father of one of the two deceased victims, Tahir Shahzad Qazi. The other victim was identified as Sajid Rajpar.

“We will be resuming the operation on Thursday and cover the area from Pakistan Chowk to Hyder Chowk and then up to the police lines gate,” the DC said while chairing a meeting of the board in Shahbaz Hall on Tuesday.

He said he, along with the SSP, would lead and oversee the operation. The strategy in the entire exercise would be to clear one single road at a time, he added.

The meeting decided to remove all kinds of encroachments including illegal parking spaces and additional structures next to business centres and roads.

Hyderabad SSP Pir Mohammed Shah, Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) managing director Masood Jumani and other officers as well as representatives of the business community attended the meeting.

The DC stressed the need for taking all stakeholders on board before launching the anti-encroachment drive. He said that areas would be cleared of encroachment in the presence of the SHO and mukhtiarkar concerned and if the encroachments resurfaced, then the same officials would be held responsible for it.

He told the meeting that the chief minister had given clear instructions for the removal of encroachments with warning that no laxity would be tolerated in this regard.

About different proposals for declaring certain roads ‘one way’ for vehicular traffic, the DC said that a complete traffic plan be clearly spelled out. He stated that legal formalities for removal of encroachments should be complied with and banners be displayed in the targeted areas before starting the operation.

He asked the officers concerned to also submit a plan containing details of requirements for the installation of cameras and traffic signals to improve flow of traffic.

He sought cooperation from traders in this regard. He asked HMC officials to take care of sanitation in the city and also serve notices to shopping malls if they were found causing traffic problems.

Members of the management board, which included heads of the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI), All Sindh Bus Owners Association (ASBOA), Cantonment Board Hyderabad (CBH) and HMC, also raised issues relating to parking space.

Some members noted with concern that the HMC had let out spaces along roads for illegal parking which was badly affecting civic infrastructure.

ASBOA president Mir Afzal complained that police were patronising one operator of bus/van stand in Latifabad while closing other similar stands unilaterally although the CBH itself was running an “illegal bus stand” at Qasim Chowk.

HMC municipal officer Shahid Ali told the chair that the corporation did not let out any space outside superstores, Autobahn Road and Tilak Incline for parking purpose.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2017