Peshawar razes over 450 structures along Ring Road

Authorities in Peshawar have demolished more than 450 shops, markets and other structures built on government land along Ring Road, according to two Pakistani outlets that reported the operation. Neither account mentioned any casualty.

Dawn reported that over 450 illegal structures were razed along Ring Road in Peshawar. ProPakistani gave the same figure and said the buildings demolished were shops, markets and other structures on government land, removed during an operation it described as ongoing.

The two reports agree on the scale of the clearance. But neither, in the material available to this newspaper, named the department or authority carrying it out, said when the operation began, or reported whether owners were served notice before their premises were pulled down or offered compensation afterwards. Neither said how the cleared land is to be used, how much of it was freed, or whether any of the affected traders has approached a court.

In the material available, neither report carried a formal statement from the district administration or from any provincial department.

Clearances of government land are a recurring exercise for district administrations in Pakistani cities, and they regularly draw objections from traders over notice, compensation and the loss of businesses built up over years. Peshawar's Ring Road is one of the city's main traffic arteries.

Separately, the Lahore Ring Road Authority has raised traffic fines to Rs10,000 for multiple violations, Profit reported. The report, as available, did not specify which violations the higher penalty covers, when it takes effect, or whether the increase applies to the entire length of the Lahore Ring Road, and did not say whether the authority had published a revised schedule of fines.

The Peshawar and Lahore reports concern different cities and different operations, and there was no indication that they were connected.

Skardu Times could not independently confirm the number of structures demolished in Peshawar or the new fine of Rs10,000 in Lahore.