Catering to middle class needs: Tench Bhatta — a bazaar for affordable Eid shopping

The narrow road remains overcrowded during Ramazan

RAWALPINDI: Be it the beginning of Ramazan or the start of Eid season, Tench Bhatta Bazaar is the first choice of a large number of residents of Rawalpindi District when it comes to affordable shopping.

Situated in the cantonment area, the bazaar stretches on both sides of a long road. It can rightly be called a bazaar for the middle and lower-middle classes.

The bazaar is the biggest attraction for the middle class of the district, after Raja Bazaar, for Eid shopping.

Visitors can easily find a good variety at minimum rates on a single street.

It starts from Chungi No 22 near Combined Military Hospital and ends at Akhri Bus Stop, covering an area of over two kilometres.

The bazaar contains shops of all types and variety ranging from cosmetics, jewellery, toys, clothes, shoes, grocery and bakery items, sweets, fruits, vegetables, and meat.

The narrow road of Tench bazaar remained overcrowded during Ramazan as shoppers thronged from suburban areas of the garrison city.

“Rates of clothes and shoes are lower at Tench Bhatta when compared to nearby markets in Saddar. The bazaar offers good variety for people with low income. People mostly purchase unstitched clothes and shoes. Tailors also charge less than those having shops in Saddar,” said Hasnat Kiani, who has been living in Tench Bhatta for the last 15 years.

He said the narrow road of the bazaar and rush of shoppers create multiple problems for residents of the area.

“I am a mason by profession. I mostly get work in rural areas. I do not earn a lot of money. I always shop from Tench Bhatta for myself and my family,” said Yousaf Ali Khan, 50, a resident of Chakri Road.

I did not go to Raja Bazaar because it is away from my home, while Tench is near, he added.

“I run a grocery store on Adiala Road. I have come to Tench to purchase shoes with my family. My two little girls also wanted to purchase mehndi and bangles. All these things are available in Tench Bhatta at lower rates,” Akram Subhan, 39, said.

He said he had come on his motorcycle as it was easy to park the two-wheeler on the roadside in the bazaar.

Zaigham Ali, 26, a salesman on a retail cloth shop, said that a surge in number of shoppers was witnessed before Eid.

He said Tench Bhatta was a must visit for people with low income as they could get a fair bargain.

“Actual rush will be seen on the chaand raat. The bazaar is illuminated with fairy lights, small flags, and paintings. Children and young people like to visit the bazaar on the night before the Eid. They shop and eat outside on chaand raat,” Atif Khan, who works at a shoes shop, said.

The salesman said that visitors also faced traffic congestion as the road that went through the bazaar was narrow.

The shopkeepers have encroached upon the road, making it difficult for traffic to move smoothly, Khan said.

Many people like to avoid Tench Bhatta because of the traffic rush, he said. A traffic warden in the bazaar said that the traffic police had banned entry of public transport, taxis, and rickshaws in Tench Bhatta to keep the flow of traffic smooth.

He said that the traffic wardens had also sought help from the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board for removal of encroachments and other hurdles from the bazaars.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2016.