No way out: Traffic woes turn joy of shopping into a nightmare

Poor parking facilities at markets, resultant traffic jams irk Eid customers

KARACHI: With Eidul Fitr around the corner, shopping is at its peak as people throng markets across the city to buy clothes and other items for the annual festival. However, traffic jams and unavailability of proper parking areas is ruining the fun and festivity for those who visit the markets in their private vehicles.

The issue has been causing problems for the public, but the parking mafia is raking in profits from the situation.

Parking operators have set-up illegal parking areas on main roads, which has led to severe traffic jams. Tariq Road, Hyderi Market, Zaibunnisa and Zainab Market in Saddar are some of the most popular shopping areas in Karachi where visitors have to face parking issues and traffic jams.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, a resident, Junaid Alvi, said he and his family got stuck at liberty crossing of Tariq Road and it took them almost 30 minutes to reach the liberty crossing from Bahadurabad signal. He added that this happened because only one lane of the road is available for vehicles, while the other two lanes are occupied by parked cars. Alvi said that there is no proper parking place for visitors, while Rs100 is charged by the Karachi Municipal Corporation's (KMC) parking fee collector.

Another citizen, Zameer Ahmed, who was having an argument with the parking fee collector, told The Express Tribune that parking in the streets is free of charge. However, Ahmed added, the parking fee collector was threatening him that if he doesn't pay, than he will have to bear losses in terms of broken side mirrors or flattened tyres. Ahmed added that if they do not pay the fee, then their cars are often towed away by the traffic police. He claimed that the car owners pay Rs500 as fine to the traffic police, while motorcycle owners pay Rs200.

Car owners are not the only ones who face this problem. A motorcyclist, Asadullah, said that he was once asked to pay Rs30, but since he was parking in the street away from the market, he refused to pay the parking fee. Later on, he found his motorcycle on the ground, with all its lights broken, he claimed. "We are being pressurised by the authorities to collect parking fee from everyone," said the parking fee collector, while refusing to comment on the matter any further.

The traffic police officials on Tariq Road said the traffic department does not encourage double parking on narrow roads. However, the officers refused to comment when they were asked why they fail to tow cars parked in no-parking zones.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Karachi commissioner Aijaz Ahmed Khan denied having any information about mismanagement related to parking. He said that only single lane parking is allowed, adding that if other lanes are also being occupied for parking, then he will direct all the relevant departments to take action against this.

On the other hand, KMC administrator Laeeq Ahmed said he was aware about the parking issues and he had already issued directions to KMC parking department to look into the matter. Ahmed added that illegal parking was one of the reasons for the severe traffic jams in Karachi and claimed that he will ask the authorities, including the traffic police, to look into the matter.

However, traffic ADIG Tahir Noorani believes that everything is going very smoothly in terms of traffic. He added that illegal parking is not being facilitated and their teams are keeping an eye on cars that are parked in illegal areas. The KMC charged parking director Akhtar Sheikh was unavailable for comments, despite repeated attempts.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2016.