Encroachments create mess in Pindi

Encroachments in all city areas including on footpaths and roads and across Rawalpindi has turned into a mess, putting pedestrians’ lives to risk owing to rash traffic on roads.

The Murree Road as well as different markets and bazaars across the city were filled with encroachments while the district administration has turned a blind eye to the issue.

The encroachments on footpaths extending to roads also cause constant traffic jams.

Stallholders have occupied the footpaths of Murree Road from Liaquat Bagh Chowk to Shamsabad and after the evening, the road remains jammed as many buyers show up on these stalls.

Encroachments and illegal stalls are hard to avoid in Raja Bazaar, Liaquat Road, College Road, Bohar Bazaar, Moti Bazaar, Bara Market, Imperial Market, Ghalla Mandi, Dangi Khoi, Bani Chowk, Urdu Bazaar, Dalgaran Bazaar, Talwaran Bazaar, Old Fort, Jamia Masjid Road, Syedpur Road, Circular Road, Commercial Market, Rawal Road Chowk, Fruit Market, Sarafa Bazaar.

Traders’ leader Tahir Taj Bhatti said that nobody was there to question the encroachment mafia. He said the encroachments start a little farther from the tehsil municipal office and extend all over the city. He said that no civic body was ready to take action against the encroachment mafia.

Bhatti said Moti Bazaar was considered a market where one could shop easily with children. However, they have stopped going there because of the plethora of encroachments.

He said the traders have set up shops where items worth millions of rupees were available for sale, but customers do not turn up owing to encroachments on the entry and exit points of the Moti Bazaar.

He said the traders have complained against it to the deputy commissioner and other related officials but their complaints have fallen on a deaf ear.

Yasir Butt, who deals in women's garments, said the encroachments have encircled Raja Bazaar, Fawara Chowk, Bara Market, Dangi Khoi and Puran Qila. He said thousands of pushcarts have entered the city, which not only creates difficulties for pedestrians but also makes it impossible for motorists to park vehicles.

He said that encroachments have also been established in the parking areas across the city while shopkeepers on main roads have occupied the footpaths and a portion of the roads

He demanded a grand operation against illegal encroachments as it has stalled business activities in the markets in the inner city.

A resident of College Road, Mudassir Butt, said the hotels selling fish have set up sitting arrangements on footpaths and roadside instead of their restaurants. He said many people come to these eateries for dinner owing to which the traffic snarl-up has become a routine and the pedestrians also have to use the road. Rawalpindi Mayor Sardar Nasim Shah was approached to seek his version on the issue, but he did not respond to phone calls.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2021.