SHC orders Burns Road be fully restored to normal traffic

The Sindh High Court has issued a written order in the case against making Burns Road a food street.

The court invalidated both the notifications of the district administration regarding the closure of Burns Road and ordered to restore the traffic of Burns Road in 3 days.

In a written judgment, the court ordered that Burns Road and surrounding roads be restored to their original condition, all chairs, tables and encroachments to be removed and Burns Road be fully restored to normal traffic.

The court directed the district administration to submit a report on the implementation of the decision within 7 days and said that the Deputy Commissioner could not give any explanation for the closure of South Strick, issuing the notification without the authority concerned is illegal.

On February 23, the SHC directed the local administration to end the food street being built in the evening on a part of Burns Road and open this important highway for vehicular traffic.

A two-member bench headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmad Abbasi, while allowing two petitions filed against the road closure due to food street, remarked that the fundamental rights of people cannot be compromised in the name of food street.

The bench quashed the notification issued by the district administration for setting up the food street and directed the authorities concerned to open Burns Road and its adjoining streets within 2 days.

The bench also issued directions to remove all encroachments from roads and footpaths.

On the previous hearing, the SHC had expressed its displeasure over the closure of the road every evening for the food street, which was disrupting the flow of traffic. has been closed for

It should be noted that in February 2021, some residents of the area filed a petition in the Sindh High Court, requesting the reason for the decision of the district administration to close the road in the name of ‘Food Street’ between 7 pm and 2 am. Petitioners and other residents are facing severe hardships.

The petition stated that people are facing problems due to the diversion of traffic to narrow streets in the Burns Road area, which is like restricting the free movement of citizens. Petition sited that an elderly woman due to traffic restrictions has died because emergency medical aid could not be provided.

In the field petition, the residents requested the district administration to withdraw the road closure notification so that the residents and others are not deprived of access to the road.