Call to add Bara Kahu to capital’s municipal limits

ICCI president says traders facing problems due to a lack of attention

ISLAMABAD:

Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari on Monday said the Capital Development Authority should include Bara Kahu in Islamabad’s Municipality as it had become one of the largest commercial centres of the federal capital.

“Due to lack of attention, the area traders are facing multiple problems, and as a CDA board member, I will play a role to resolve the same,” Bakhtawari said while talking to a delegation of Bara Kahu Markazi Anjuman-eTajran, led by its President Raja Zahid Dhaniyal, visited the ICCI.

He said he would pursue the CDA chairman to visit the Bara Kahu market for a first-hand account of the problems being faced by the traders and then take necessary steps for their resolution. He assured the delegation that the ICCI would fully cooperate with their Association in its efforts for the betterment of Bara Kahu traders.

Bara Kahu Markazi Anjuman-e-Tajran President Raja Zahid Dhaniyal, in his remarks, said the problems of the Bara Kahu area were not promptly resolved as it was considered a rural area. The area should be included in the municipal limits of Islamabad for its proper development, he added.

He said the condition of Simli Dam Road had deteriorated. Likewise, the road under the newly opened bypass was also in dilapidated condition which needed urgent repair and carpeting.

He said there were serious sewage problems in Bara Kahu while the drainage system was also not functioning properly. The sanitation arrangements in Bara Kahu were almost non-existent, while the Bara Kahu market also needed a filtration plant and public toilets.

He said there was no parking facility available in the Bara Kahu market and urged the CDA to construct a multi-storied parking plaza in the area. Former ICCI president Bakhtawari also urged the CDA and the Municipal Corporation Islamabad to develop Bara Kahu on modern lines.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2023.