ILLEGAL encroachments in Punjab no longer begin from markets or shopping plazas. They begin from the gates of our own homes. In almost every city, town and village, people have built ramps, staircases, cemented slopes, iron platforms and extended entrances outside their houses, occupying public streets as if those spaces were part of their private property. Roads built with taxpayers’ money are meant for pedestrians, ambulances, schoolchildren, drainage flow and public movement, yet many citizens behave as though the street outside their gate belongs exclusively to them.

This is not just a municipal issue; it is a reflection of national behavior. Today someone builds a small ramp, tomorrow the porch extends outward, then a wall moves ahead and eventually public land disappears piece........

© Pakistan Observer