At present an anti-encroachment drive is on the anvil in Lahore. Since I live near Wahdat Road, I have witnessed the campaign with my own eyes. As I have seen abroad, such campaigns are launched mainly to facilitate the road-users be they drivers of vehicles or pedestrians. But the situation here is totally opposite. The anti-encroachment campaigners here have uprooted concrete pavements and fortified constructions that were within a foot beyond their legitimate boundary, sometimes even those that were 18-20 feet away from the road and no hindrance for traffic in any way. It seems that they only want to punish the shopkeepers and damage the popularity of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. -ABDUL-HAQ, Lahore, via e-mail, December 12.