Karachi, Dec. 07 (TNS): After the federal government on Friday filed a review petition before the Supreme Court against the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in Karachi, Mayor Waseem Akhtar held a press conference to record protest against plans to demolish illegal houses during an anti-encroachment drive being run under his supervision in Karachi.<\/p>\n
The mayor defended the removal of encroachments from markets and roads but opposed the idea of razing illegal houses. “I will resign if a single house is touched,” Akhtar told the news conference.<\/p>\n
He said that the markets being set up by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) were also razed during the ongoing operation.<\/p>\n
He announced that in the first phase, the KMC will arrange 1,000 shops for affectees of the drive as an alternative, adding that the KMC was supporting the affected people.<\/p>\n
He said the corporation had received court orders to remove encroachments from parks, footpaths and nullahs.<\/p>\n
“Some people have started point-scoring over the operation against encroachments,” he added.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, Governor Sindh Imran Ismael’s spokesperson said that the decision to file a review petition had been taken at a recent meeting between the governor and Prime Minister Imran Khan.<\/p>\n
According to the spokesperson, the governor had apprised the prime minister about the concerns and reservations of the affected people.<\/p>\n