City govt plans air conditioning for most Ramazan Bazaars

As many as 31 Ramazan Bazaars to be set up in the city

LAHORE: The City District Government of Lahore (CDGL) is providing air-conditioning at several Ramazan Bazaars in view of the scorching heat this year. The CDGL will set up 31 Ramazan Bazaars. Of these, five Ramazan Bazaars would be set up in Gulberg Town, including a Model Bazaar on Model Town Link Road. The other four will be in Makkah Colony, Barkat Market, Ghalib Market and Bab-i-Pakistan.

Four Ramazan Bazaars will be set up in Nishtar Town. Three of these will be in Tipu Block, Allama Iqbal Town; Sher Shah Colony, Raiwand and Nishtar Colony on Ferozepur Road, and the remaining two in Kahna and Township areas. The three Ramazan Bazaars in Ravi Town will be at Begum Kot Chowk, Dehli Gate and Girls’ Degree College, Data Nagar, respectively. In Samanabad Town, bazaars will be set up in Wahdat Colony, Gulshan Ravi and Naeem Shaheed Road areas.

In Data Ganj Bakhsh Town, bazaars will be set up in Shadman; Islampura; and Karim Park areas. Allama Iqbal Town will have five Ramazan Bazaars including a Model Bazaar each in Sabzazar, Raiwand; Thokar Niaz Baig and Chungh areas and a bazaar at Mian Plaza, Johar Town. There will be three Ramazan Bazaars each in Aziz Bhatti Town (one each at Ghazi Abad, Harbanspura and Chungi Do Guage areas) and Shalimar Town (one each at Gol Ground in Shadbagh, Singhpura and China Scheme) and two in Wagha Town (one each at Jallo Mor and Badian area).

Facilitation camps would be set up in 31 other ‘critical markets’ to monitor and control supply of essential commodities at subsidised prices.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, a district government spokesman said air conditioning had been arranged for most Ramazan Bazaars in view of the extreme weather conditions. He said air coolers would be provided in other areas. Earlier, Lahore DCO Capt (r) Muhammad Usman had constituted special committees to monitor Ramazan Bazaar operations and assigned duties for the purpose to town administrations.

The bazaars will start operations from June 3 and will remain open from 9am to 6pm.

Last week, the provincial government had released Rs5 billion for provision of essential items at these facilities. The government had announced that a 10-kg wheat flour bag would be available for Rs290 at Ramazan Bazaars and for Rs310 in the open market during the month of Ramazan. As many as 330 Ramazan Bazaars and 25 Model Bazaars and around 2,000 Madni Dastarkhawans would be set up across the province this year.

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