Occupied park land vacated in Karachi anti-encroachment operation

KARACHI: An anti-encroachment operation to flatten illegal structures constructed on the encroached land of Dilkusha Park at Main Tariq Road was carried out in the wee hours of Sunday.

The operation was held under the supervision of the Karachi (East) anti-encroachment director and Ferozabad assistant commissioner.

During the operation, 10 shops constructed on the occupied land were razed.

Last week, the Supreme Court ordered clearing the land of Kidney Hill Park from encroachments. A bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed ordered returning the land — which also houses a mosque — to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) as well as clearing the graveyard in the park.

“No worship place can be built over illegally encroached land. Islam does not allow construction of a mosque over occupied land,” the bench ruled.

The court also cancelled the licence issued by the KMC.

Late last year, the Supreme Court directed the Karachi commissioner to bring down all constructions on the encroached lands around Kidney Hill Park and submit a report to it.

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