Unusable detour: Weekly car bazaar makes messy traffic messier

Illegally parked used cars make travel impossible on the BB Road alternative.

RAWALPINDI:

Dealers are flouting a ban on weekly car bazaars on service roads around the 6th Road intersection, making the already messy traffic messier and creating problems for commuters.

Traffic problem in the area had become a daily routine after the start of work on
a flyover on the busiest Benazir Bhutto Road two weeks ago.

Vehicular traffic passes from the service roads on both sides of after the closure of the main road  for construction work.

The service roads are already filled up with illegally-parked cars from nearby dealerships on both sides and the situation gets out of control every Friday evening when a bazaar is set up for sale of used cars.

“Local residents have been complaining about the unauthorised car bazaars near Satellite Town and Sadiqabad, but the authorities have been unable to put an end to the bazaar,” said Arif Abbasi, a resident of Sadiqabad.

The district administration had imposed a ban under section 144 on  the bazaar but no action has been taken against the dealers, he added.

District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saqib Zaffar said he had imposed a ban on holding the bazaar and directed the police to take action against the violators.

He said action against the car dealers recently resulted in the shifting of the car bazaar to the adjoining residential streets, which in turn led to the blocking of the gates of private houses.

Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Ishtiaq Shah pointed out that traffic wardens were only responsible for keeping the roads clear for traffic flow and all efforts were being made to keep the service roads clear during the construction period.

The CTO said that in a recent meeting, he had requested political leaders to use their influence to get the car dealers to move wilfully, and if the problem still remained, the area police should register criminal cases against the violators.

When contacted, Rawal Division Superintendent of Police (SP) Chaudhry Muhammad Hanif seemed to be oblivious of the imposition of Section 144.

When reminded of the imposition of the ban, the SP said no one would be allowed to violate the law, and added that his office had not received any complaints against the car bazaar.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2012.