The City District Government Lahore (CDGL) has yet to take steps commensurate with the high number of shoppers associated with last days of Ramazan.
Markets and commercial areas have always drawn large crowds for Eid shopping.
Most shopping centres in the city are still without additional security personnel or walk through gates to help prevent terrorist attacks.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Qazi Aftab, the Mall Road Traders’ Association general secretary, complained that neither the district administration nor the police had made any additional security arrangements at The Mall. It was an open area, he said, and there were difficulties in making foolproof arrangements but they could have certainly taken some steps to make the traders and the shoppers feel safe.
Aftab said that some traders had installed closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and hired guards. “Those initiatives only secure specific shops. The entry and exit points to most markets remain unguarded,” he said.
Sajjad Ahmed Bhutta, the Lahore district coordination officer (DCO), said that discussions on a security plan were underway. He assured that the security arrangements would be improved before the Eid.
“I have reviewed the security situation at several markets and shopping centres today,” he said.
He said that the district administration was negotiating with traders the constraints they could consent to. The talks, he said, would conclude in the coming days and an improvement would be visible in the security measures.
Qazi Aftab suggested that the Civil Defence Department should be made more active. The department could help enhance security measures by supplementing the police during crises, he said. “It did great work during 1965 war by training civilians to deal with emergency situations.”
Babar Ali Bhatti, the Liberty Market (Qaumi Tajir Ittehad) finance secretary, condemned the government agencies for their ‘indifference’ in spite of threats of terror attacks at crowded places.
He said that the traders had suggested that the government install 15 CCTV cameras and speaker phones in the market but the proposal had been ignored. “They haven’t even repaired the six cameras installed in 2009 that have gone out of order,” he added.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Aslam Tareen, the capital city police officer (CCPO), said that the traders themselves were responsible for the dysfunctional CCTV cameras.
He said that the police, while finalising the Eid security plan two days ago, had taken the traders on board.
He said that police personnel, in uniform and plain-clothes, had been deployed at various sensitive spots across the city.
Babar Bhatti pointed out that motorcycles, which had earlier been barred from parking outside the shops, had once again started using the space as a parking lot. “The ban had brought an air of safety,” Bhatti said, adding that the police had not taken any action against the move despite repeated complaints. Security measures, he said, are tightened for some days following a major terrorism incident but everything returns to previous practise after some time.
The DCO said that the administration had recommended that the traders do not set up stalls and counters outside their shops to avoid congestion that helps terrorists.
Hina Jibran, who described herself as a frequent shopper, said that she had found most walkthrough gates in the shopping plazas and markets out of order. Where they were working, she said, there was no guard. Besides, she added, the guards never bothered to check women. The CCPO said that the installation of walkthrough gates at every shopping centre was not possible.
Shamim Khanum, a shopper at Anarkali, said that there were no policemen deployed at the entrance of Babar Market, one of the main markets in Anarkali. She said that the number of shoppers was less than previous years but still there were ample opportunities for the terrorists to strike.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2010.
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