Sahulat Bazaar falls short on relief

Shoppers on Sunday visited subsidised stalls at a Sahulat Bazaar set up adjacent to Sunday's Sasta Bazaar in Committee Chowk by the City District Government of Rawalpindi and expressed mixed feelings.

As part of anti-inflation relief measures, the district administration had set up a few stalls in the Sahulat Bazaar adjacent to Sunday's Sasta Bazaar and displayed the appropriate rate lists. However, Sasta Bazaar continued with its usual rates in the wider space behind the Sahulat Bazaar, with different rates at the two markets.

Citizens, who came for shopping, expressed their satisfaction with the reasonable rates at the Sahulat Bazaar stalls on the one hand but on the other were seen dissatisfied with the small number of stalls and limited shopping items. They demanded to provide relief by establishing a complete Sahulat Bazaar.

In Sahulat Bazaar, onion is being sold at Rs123 per kg, garlic at Rs455 per kg, tomato at Rs87 per kg, ginger at Rs536 per kg, potato at Rs80 per kg, and green chilli is being sold at Rs57 per kg. However, at Sasta Bazaar lemon is being sold at Rs200 per 250 gram, capsicum at Rs120 per kg, bitter gourd at Rs150 per kg, bottle gourd at Rs100 per kg, cauliflower at Rs150 per kg, peas at Rs120 per kg, while round cucumber is being sold at Rs110 per kg. Mangoes are available at Rs209 per kg, peaches at Rs191 per kg, plums from Rs150 to Rs250 per kg, and bananas at Rs100 per dozen.

Citizens Muhammad Sharif Akbar, Hussain Shabbir Ahmed and Yusuf say the rates in Sahulat Bazaar are reasonable but the number of stalls is less and eatables are also fewer so one has to go to Sasta Bazaar located at the back of this bazaar where everything is available but the rates are higher and arbitrary.

The administration should give the entire Sasata Bazaar the status of Sahulat Bazaar, set the rates, display their lists the same way the rate lists are displayed in a Sahulat Bazaar and set up a separate counter of the district administration with the deployment of staff to enforce these rates, citizens suggest.

Criticising dual standards of the administration, they say the effectiveness of Sahulat Bazaars is being spoiled by offering limited stalls and items at reasonable rates as citizens are forced to visit adjacent Sasta Bazaar for additional buying to get exploited in the hands of vendors.