SUKKUR: The personnel of irrigation department with the help of police launched an operation in Barrage Colony on Monday to remove all illegal encroachments from government land but the drive was restricted to razing some small structures along roads while navigating around illegal properties of influential persons.

Before the start of the operation, police had sealed all roads and streets leading to the colony by parking vehicles across the streets and suspended supply of electricity and gas to the area, which caused panic among the residents.

Bigwigs’ properties escape untouched

When the anti-encroachment team led by SDO Imtiaz Langha and other officials arrived in the colony with heavy machinery and police force, the operation was formally launched but it had to be stopped several times as lawyers and influential people created hurdles in different ways.

Finally, the heavy earth-moving machines only pulled down some walls, small shops and showrooms along the road without coming near a big private hospital which was also established on occupied irrigation land.

The area people, who were witnessing the operation, said that the anti-enc­r­oachment drive would restrict itself to houses and structures of the poor and hapless people like it did in past.

They said that in past, the administration had launched a similar operation against encroachments on land reserved for parks and playgrounds under Supreme Court orders and remo­ved some structures from Jinnah Cho­wk and Ghazi Abdul Rasheed Park but did not dare touch encroachments owned by influential persons and departments.

The latest operation started on Sindh High Court’s directives would end within a few days and it appeared this too would only hit the poor and the hapless, they said.

Irrigation officials involved in the operation said that in the first phase they would clear commercial area and then turn to the private hospital after commissioner, deputy commissioner and high officials of irrigation department took a decision about it.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2020