RAWALPINDI: As the Eid festival was hardly two days away, it had become challenging for foot travellers to move into the city’s commercial areas due to heavy traffic jams and increasing encroachments.
Talking to reporter, Amna a housewife from the Banni area, said that “I had planned to buy garments for my kids from Moti Bazar but I am going back home as I am unable to move with my family due to a packed rush.”
Meanwhile, city traders have expressed concern about ever-increasing encroachments on roads and demanded the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation to remove these illegal encroachments to end frequent traffic jams that were affecting their business.
They also demanded the district administration to increase security around all market areas as Eid shopping was gaining momentum with each passing day.
General Secretary Anjuman-Tajraan Rawalpindi Tahir Taj Bhatti talking to this agency said there was a need to widen the entrance of interior city bazaars including Talwara Bazaar, Trunk Bazaar, Bohr Bazar, Sa
bzi Mandi, Moti Bazaar and others as Eid shopping had reached to its peak.
He said that due to the lack of parking space and encroachments in many markets of downtown areas, distances of minutes of even pedestrians were being covered in hours due to acute road encroachments and traffic stuckups.
He said traders and commuters, especially women, were facing great difficulties as Eid shopping had folded three times more compared to other days.
President Anjuman-e-Tajran Moti Bazaar Chauadary Muhammad Iqbal said there should be policemen in plain clothes present in vulnerable areas and ready to converge on a single whistle in case of an emergency.
Besides, he said there were a large number of beggars, who seek alms but were also involved in criminal activities like pick-pocketing and snatching different items from the people visiting the markets.
He asked the quarters concerned to beef up the security of city markets, especially during nighttime.
When contacted, City Police Officer(CPO) Syed Khalid Hamadani
assured that foolproof security arrangements had been made to give a special cover to shopping areas so that customers as well as traders could feel a sense of security.