Encroachments: Sunday bazaars loose charm

At the weekly bazaars, encroachers could be seen selling products on the footpaths.

ISLAMABAD:

Sunday bazaars are losing their charm, as encroachments continue to spring on footpaths outside the sale points.     

At the weekly bazaars in Aabpara and at Peshawar Mor, encroachers could be seen selling products on the footpaths, creating inconveniences for pedestrians and shoppers.

Shoppers, especially motorists, at the Aabpara Sunday Bazaar complained about the lack of a proper car park, saying they have to shuffle from place-to-place before they can get space to park.

Rabia Aslam, a regular shopper at the Aabpara Sunday Bazaar, said that the tide of encroachments has reached an alarming level, but the CDA authorities were either unaware of the problem or turned a blind eye to it.

“An equal number of weekly bazaars have sprung up on footpaths outside the specified weekly bazaars in Islamabad,” said Rashid Jameel. He demanded that the illegal bazaars should be eliminated to facilitate regular shoppers at the Sunday bazaars.

“Weekly bazaars are losing their charm for shoppers, mainly due to a shortage of parking places. We are compelled to buy our groceries from the open markets at higher prices as we can never find parking at the Sunday bazaars,” said Tanveer Sial, a shopper at the Aabpara bazaar. 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2013.