Sir: This is apropos a news report, “Sustainable action needed to make Karachi encroachment-free city” published in Daily Times on January 4. Regrettably, like the citizens of Karachi, the citizens of other cities and towns of Sindh face the same trouble with encroachments. The fruit and vegetable markets and main roads are encroached upon by pushcarts and other vendors. Besides, people encroach on streets by constructing the walls and stairs of their houses. There is no set-up of an anti-encroachment force or cell in the cities and towns of interior Sindh. The power of anti-encroachment operations is with taluka municipalities and town committees. These institutions have failed to remove encroachments because encroachers pay bribes to the black sheep in these institutions and the police department. As a result, roads, footpaths and streets have become narrower. We appeal to the local concerned authorities and the Sindh government to take result-oriented initiatives for removal of encroachments to provide relief to the general public from this problem. SHAIKH ABDUL RASHEED Shikarpur