RMC demolishes shops built on storm drains

The Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation (RMC) demolished several shops built on storm drains and roadsides in Bohar Bazaar on Thursday, a spokesperson shared.

He said that the police and anti-encroachment staff closed the road for any sort of traffic before the operation was carried out that went on for about three hours with heavy machinery being employed under the supervision of the RMC Chief Officer Ali Abbas Bukhari. He added that the shops built on storm drains and along roadsides were completely illegal.

On the other hand, a trade association leader, Azam Qadri, said that they had taken a stay order on the anti-encroachment operation from the court. He alleged that their businesses were being destroyed due to political pressure, adding that they even paid rent for their shops on a regular basis. The anti-encroachment officials distribute the monthly collection among them, he accused.

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The RMC anti-encroachment department rents out footpaths of important thoroughfares in the city and receives monthly rent from the vendors who have set up shops on these footpaths.

Traffic jams on Iqbal Road, Liaquat Road, Saddar City Road, Ganjmandi Road, Circular Road, Jamia Masjid Road, Saidpur Road, Bagh Sardar Road, Sadiqabad, Dhok Khabba Bazaar, Bara Bazaar, Bohar Bazaar, Urdu Bazaar, Purana Qila, College Road, Alam Khan Road, Asghar Mall Road, and Pir Wadhai have become common, the official mentioned.

He added that push-carters and other vendors selling different items have occupied the footpaths, owing to which they have become unusable for pedestrians.

Meanwhile, the grills erected by a private bank located on Bank Road were removed as the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) conducted an anti-encroachment operation on Thursday, a spokesperson shared.

It was further learnt that the bank employees were beaten by RCB’s anti-encroachment staff.

According to the details, a private bank had installed iron grills following security measures as instructed by the State Bank of Pakistan to allow entry into the bank after clearance. During the operation, the anti-encroachment staff also engaged in an altercation with the bank’s staff and assaulted the employees.

According to the bank’s Vice President Asad Abbasi, RCB officials beat up the bank staff even though the security gate was installed on the orders of the SBP and the Punjab government. He claimed that security grills were installed outside many banks on Bank Road, however, he lamented that the cantonment officials conducted action against them without any prior notice.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2021.