Summary Footpaths are illegally taken over by people selling various things, forcing people to walk on roads, which is a major reason of road accidents. Photo: Dunya News
(Dunya News) – While pavements and footpaths are designed for pedestrians, in Karachi, these have become inaccessible owing to illegal occupancy by roadside vendors and businesses.
Whether it is Liaquatabad, Saddar, Gulshan or Gulistan-e-Johar, footpaths are no longer existent for pedestrians in Karachi. Instead, these have now been occupied by fruit vendors or roadside stalls. Some have even been encroached by hotels.
Speaking to Dunya News, frustrated citizens complained that due to the illegal occupancy of footpaths, they are now being forced to walk on roads. “On a daily basis, there are accidents occurring because there is no place for pedestrians to walk,” said a citizen.
According to traffic police officials, pedestrians rank second highest in number of causalities occur due to road accidents. Photo: Screengrab
According to traffic police officials, pedestrians rank second highest in the number of casualties that occur due to road accidents.
Some locals claim that police is responsible for illegally allotting these public walking spaces to people selling various items.
The anti-encroachment operation by the district authorities appears to be useless in terms of its efficacy.
For more on this, watch a report by Dunya News below.
