WITH Eid round the corner, it is only expectedthathordes ofbeggarsdescend on large cities, especially Karachi, from across the land. The movement remains constantly increasing throughout Ramazan, but in the last week or so these beggars make life miserable for the locals.

And these are all professional beggars, mind you. How else would they travel, and afford to travel, from far and wide? A few months ago, a police force called anti-beggary unit used to patrol DHA streets and was somewhat ef fective in at least curtailing the numbers of beggars in the area. I live near Masjid Mubarak close to Seaview, and during the entire month of Ramazan it is surrounded by beggars round the clock. It is very difficult to move between the mosque and my home without harassment yes, harassment by these professional beggars.

Recently, after the Fajr prayers, a beggar started quarrelling with the mosque`s imam when he requested the beggar not to disturb the prayers and the people. It was a pathetic scene.

The situation is no difficult around the Badar Commercial area which also remained flooded with beggars day and night. The eateries in that area provide food three times a day to them as donatedby affluent people, and, hence, the place is idealforthe beggars.

Some of these beggars get involved in petty crime and we have often heard about broken car windows and missing valuables.

The area administration preferred to be a spectator a sleeping, snoring spectator rather than taking any remedial measures. All the relevant authorities should devise a mechanism to stop this menace from making the area look like a slum.

Tahir Hassan Karachi