Court orders: Raja Bazaar encroachments come tumbling down

LHC ordered city admin to clear them; local traders claim ‘favourites’ were spared

RAWALPINDI: Directions issued by the Lahore High Court (LHC) have prompted the Rawal Town Administration to start a crackdown against encroachments on roadways in Raja Bazaar.

RTA enforcement staff on Tuesday launched an operation in Bara Market and Trunk Bazar — the two busiest parts of Raja Bazaar. Municipal staff removed merchandise placed on roads and footpaths, while also razing unauthorised sheds and stalls set up outside the shops.

“At about 11am, RTA staff and the police came to Raja Bazaar and started removing encroachments on roads, streets, and pavements. I was happy to see the action,” said Samina Bibi who was shopping in the area with her children.

She said that encroachments had become a permanent nuisance in the bazaar. But local traders were less thrilled. Traders and shopkeepers at Bara market and Trunk Bazaar staged a protest demonstration against the RTA.

The traders burnt tires and blocked traffic in protest against what they called the “double standard” of the RTA’s enforcement staff. They demanded that the operation needed to be stopped and their concerns needed to be allayed.

“Traders feel that RTA staff has been sparing the shopkeepers who pay them bribes. They believe that the municipal authorities were targeting traders who do not cooperate with them, only to satisfy the court”, said Naveed Kanwal, spokesperson for Markazi Anjuman-e-Tajran Rawalpindi.

Kanwal claimed that municipal staff would provide prior information to ‘friendly’ shopkeepers about impending anti-encroachment action.

RTA Administrator Nadia Parveen Sudhan said that assistant commissioners had been directed to head the anti-encroachment drives in the city. She said action was taken against all encroachers without any discrimination.

Regarding protests by the traders, the administrator noted, “Businesspeople want to safeguard their commercial interests but are not ready to fulfil their social obligations”.

She added that the traders needed to cooperate with the municipal authorities in removing all encroachments.

About allegations of illegal gratifications received by enforcement staff, Sudhan said that the action was headed by an assistant commissioner. She added that the AC never informed staff about exact area the operation would be launched in to maintain impartiality.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31^st, 2016.