Karachi:Though the anti-encroachment entries of the megacity are vacating footpaths of Saddar, Regal and Empress Market from encroachers, the nearby food street of Burns Road continues to witness a nightmare for pedestrians as its both footpaths are occupied by owners of eateries and food vendors.
Though the two-way Shahra-e-Liaquat has a capacity for three lane traffic on its each flank, only one lane is hardly available for motorists on each flank, while both footpaths and two-lane area on each flack is occupied by food vendors, eateries and sweet meat shops, who have places their cooking stoves on the footpaths and chairs and tables on the road. In the evening rush hours worst traffic jams are witnessed from the Arambagh intersection to Court Road intersection. Sadly, ambulances on way to the nearby Civil Hospital of Karachi are often stranded in crippling traffic jams on the Shahra-e-Liaquat, but nobody including the law enforcers care about the precious lives of emergency patients.
Both print and electronic media frequently report on the Burns Road food street encroachments but the traffic police, local police and DMC staff prefers to turn their blind eye to this issue. It is charged that every month around Rs1million is collected as Bhatta by the black sheep from the shopkeepers of Burns Road Food Street and nearby roads. Some noted Karhahi Ghost and sweet meat shops of the Burns Road are said to be amongst notorious and habitual encroachers of footpaths.
Concerned citizens have requested the apex court to also order inclusion of the Burns Road in Saddar anti-encroachment drive program as without clearing the Shahra-e-Liaquat from encroachers the clearing of Saddar may not produce desires results for smoothing traffic and facilitation of pedestrians. Though, other food streets of the city like Hussainabad and Hassan Square University Road are also encroached upon by the eateries and food vendors, but the situation at the food street of Burns Road in too ugly and a blemish on the good governance image in the megacity, Karachi.
Burns Road is situated in the neighborhood of Sindh High Court and it is virtually the backyard of the Sindh Secretariat, and if the Sindh chief minister, local government minister or the chief secretary have a cursory view of this area from the roof of the New Sindh Secretariat Building they could easily see the menace of illegal encroachments directly in the shadow of their tall building.