KARACHI - A constitutional petition was filed in the Sindh High Court pleading to initiate operation against encroachments which were established across the City. Rana Faizul Hassan on Saturday filed the petition. He submitted that pedestrians are suffering due to establishing of a number of illegal shops on footpaths and pushcarts in commercial areas. He said that despite repeated claims to conduct operation by the civic agencies in the metropolitan, the number of encroachments had increased immensely, creating inconvenience for commuters and pedestrians in several areas. The vehicles parked by car dealers outside their showrooms are also a form of encroachments which are creating problems for motorists. Some showroom owners park their vehicles on footpaths, forcing pedestrians to walk on the road and risking their lives. The most affected places are Empress Market, Saddar, MA Jinnah Road, Tariq Road, Akbar Market, Lea Market Lyari, Orangi Town, Gaddap Town, Jamshed Road, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulberg, Landhi, and others. The anti-encroachment department had claimed to launch several anti-encroachment campaigns time and again but never tried to touch these encroachment mafias particularly showrooms as most of them are being run by influential people. The plaintiff submitted that the encroachment department of the City District Government Karachi has failed to take any serious initiative in this regard, and they have never taken any serious initiative in this regard. The negligence of the department concerned have consequently resulted in the increase of encroachments. Sindh chief secretary, ministry for local bodies, law secretary, home secretary, inspector general Sindh police, CCPO Karachi, administrator CDGK and DIG traffic police were cited as respondents. The plaintiff pleaded to the court that the respondents be directed to take immediate actions against the encroachments to ensure smooth flow of traffic and to facilitate the pedestrians.