Around 50 acres of land reserved for parking of oil tankers at Hub Chowki has been encroached upon by land grabbers, claimed members of Oil Tankers Owners Association (OTOA). “In this connection, we have already informed Supreme Court about the issue with the prayer that land should be vacated as Association members have been facing hardship in parking their vehicles,” said representatives of OTOA. The Association was provided 150 acres of land for parking at Zulfiqarabad and 50 acres of land at Hub Chowki after directives of the Supreme Court (SC) to Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC). Sindh Board of Revenue had earmarked land for tanker parking after SC issued its directives. According to details, a separate area was designated for parking oil tankers because parking oil tankers near residential areas was polluting the area and causing problems for daily commuters. “Land grabbers including Dr Ashok Kumar and Ali Hassan Barohi have encroached land of oil tanker parking area” OTOA Chairman Mir Yousuf Shawani told Daily Times. He claimed that Sindh Board of Revenue was also involved in the scam. The Association members requested SC to take notice of this and direct National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for initiating an inquiry into the matter. “The whole oil tankers parking process is about to be completed but this encroachment has created hurdles in our way and even our drivers and cleaners have continuously been receiving threats from land grabbers,” lamented association members. Published in Daily Times, July 22nd 2018.