Eid shopping becomes nightmare for many

Many commuters forced to turn back home without purchasing anything

PESHAWAR: The city’s largest malls are surrounded by thousands of commuters ahead of Eid as people throng to the malls for shopping. Many of them have complained about the dearth of parking spaces which has turned what should be a pleasant experience into a nightmare.

Hundreds of vehicles ply the roads as people come out of their homes after iftar to shop for the occasion. Major markets in the city, especially the on University Road and Saddar Bazaar draw customers from all corners of the city.

While talking to The Express Tribune, Muhammad Usman, a resident of Hayatabad, said he had nowhere to park his car when he went shopping with his family. This is because a traffic warden did not let him park on the road and the shopping malls do not have any parking facility either.



“I went back home without purchasing anything,” Usman said. “The government should ensure all shopping malls and plazas provide parking facilities.”

On the other hand, the main road in Saddar Bazaar is too narrow to bear the burden of hundreds of vehicles plying on the street on daily basis during the last week of Ramazan. There are only a few, privately-owned parking spaces available in the bazaar. However, they are mostly crowded and people need to pay Rs100 to park one car.

Talal Ahmad, another resident, said while the authorities have banned rickshaws and taxi cabs to enter bustling shopping markets, there was a pressing need to control the access of the private-owned vehicles of the shoppers.

Mushtaq Khan said the traffic wardens were frequently punctured tyres of the vehicles as a penalty to discourage parking on the roadside. However, he voiced concern that parking along the roadside without proper checks and balances may pose security concerns for the commuters.

While speaking to The Express Tribune, a police warden said illegal encroachments and arbitrary parking on the roads have also worsened the smooth flow of traffic on the roads.

Lack of parking areas is a violation of K-P’s building by-laws. According to these K-P Building Regulations, 1985, every building should have a parking space within its premises with a space of at least one car per 128 square meters of the floor area.



Similarly, a parking space of one motorbike should be provided for every 28 square meter of the floor area and one cycle space for every 23.28 square meter of floor area. The law also requires installation of adequate ventilation and fire protection system before the making building operational.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2016.