ISLAMABAD: A portion of the greenbelt and footpath along Khayaban-i-Suharwardy from the fire brigade station to Zero Point has been encroached upon by government offices, halting movement of pedestrians.

These included the Indus Water Treaty commissioner and National Counter-Terrorism Authority (Nacta) officers.

Apart from the encroachments, the remaining footpath near Zero Point remain unattended allowing bushes to grow, and without lighting at nights.

“In developed countries, no one can dare to block movement of the public, but here even in the capital city, encroachment is a new normal. The closure of footpaths is a matter of concern,” said a citizen, Aslam Ali Khan.

Instead of carrying out random drives, a grand operation is needed across capital, says official

He said due to the blockade of footpath, people have to walk on the main road, putting their lives at risk.

During a visit to the area, Dawn noticed that a portion of the footpath from the fire brigade building towards Zero Point is completely blocked with iron fences. The same situation is seen in front of the offices of commissioner Indus Water and the Counter-Terrorism Authority.

Meanwhile, the footpath outside the office of labour and manpower building is not occupied, but lying unattended with growing bushes and grass.

When contacted, CDA’s Director General Enforcement Shah Jahan Khan said he had no knowledge about the encroachment. He said footpaths along roads are looked after by the road maintenance directorate while environment directorate was supposed to keep check on greenbelts.

“We have not received any complaints from these two departments, but I will look into the issue,” he said.

Like these footpaths, there are encroachments mainly in verandas and on walking tracks in majority of markets in the city. The encroachers, allegedly in connivance with the CDA, are using the verandas of markets for commercial purposes.

“The CDA headquarters are located at G-7, so a visit to markets in the same sector is enough to gauge the performance of the civic agency. There are encroachments in all markets,” said an official.

He said roads/streets outside the G7 market at Zero Point, known as Industrial and Trade (I&T) centre, had been partially encroached upon by motor mechanics. Because of this encroachment, traffic mess in this area has become a routine.

Meanwhile, G-7’s Khada Market, which was established as a wholesale market, has become the centre of auto-workshops. The motor mechanics have been doing their business after encroaching upon many verandas, footpaths and roads in this market.

Similarly, the situation at Sitara Market, which is the Markaz of G7, is not different from other markets.

“The CDA chairman should take notice of the encroachment issue,” said an official, adding the practice of conducting random operations should be discouraged and these operations should be carried out after evolving a strategy.

“Sometimes you will see an anti-encroachment operation in G-10 area and the next day teams operating in I-10. On the third day, encroachments will reoccur in these markets; so what is the outcome of such a practice? A comprehensive strategy is needed and an audit of the performance of officials posted at the enforcement wing and the DMA should also be conducted,” he said and added that without the involvement of CDA officials no one can make an encroachment in markets.

“There is a need for grand operations across Islamabad to clear encroachments from markets and footpaths of Islamabad,” said another official of CDA. He said there were encroachments in other sectors as well. He said in some cases owners of houses had encroached upon footpaths and greenbelts.

However, the enforcement wing chief defended the performance of his directorate and said in coming days more operations will be conducted.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2023