Human, social and economic aspects of the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in Karachi were also discussed in detail at the first ThinkFest at the City Campus of the Institute of Business Administration on Saturday.

Speakers at a session titled ‘Contemporary Urban Challenges’ said the Supreme Court’s orders had not been properly translated and traders and shopkeepers had been forcibly evicted without any alternative plan and prior notice.

Nida Kirmani, a noted academic, moderated the session while Marvi Mazhar, an architect and heritage consultant, Fizza Sajjad, a researcher associated with the Center for Economic Research in Pakistan, and Ali Arqam, a local journalist, were panelists.

Mazhar, who also founded Pakistan Chowk Community Center, Karachi, said a massive anti-encroachment drive had been going in Karachi in the names of ‘beautification of the city’, ‘anti-encroachment drive’ and ‘smart neighborhoods’, but without proper mapping and surveying.

“Karachi does not have any statistics or survey about the informal sector of the city,” she said, adding that there was no coordination among various layers -- such as district, city and province -- of the government.

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