Lahore: Akbari Mandi in complete shambles

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Umair Ali
Traffic jams, accumulated sewer water on the roads, tangled electricity and telephone wires, no space for parking and unhygienic atmosphere, are the main ëfeaturesí of the city’s biggest grain market, Akbari Mandi.

Situated outside the Akbari Gate, the market was founded by the King Akbar and is termed as the biggest retail and wholesale market of the province, in which food grains of all kinds are available.

Akbari Mandi usually opens at 11am and closes late at night. The market has almost 800 shops selling over 1100 items, out of which over 1000 items are of “Pansaar” and about 100 items that of grains. Traders of the market claimed that its turn over was about Rs 500 million per day.

The major issue being faced by the visitors of the market is that there is no proper parking place for them in or around the market. The only place available for parking outside the market is the Circular Road and the market traders used to park their vehicles along the road. Following the lack of parking, the visitors are forced to park their vehicles away from the market.

It is very difficult to enter the market for the visitors, especially the new comers because of permanent traffic blockage. Only “Hath Gari” and “Yakka” is allowed to enter the market during the business hours. Shopkeepers also display their items in front of their shop during the business hours.

The old residents of the area said that some 20 years back most of the shopkeepers illegally occupied the market road, 6 to 8 fit from both sides of the road due to which the pavements on the both sides of the market road vanished.

Vice-Chairman of Akbari Mandi Trader Union, Haji Ghulam Mustafa said that he had been doing business in Akbari Mandi since he was 16 years old. “At that time, only a few shops of grain, jewellery and beverages were located in Akbari Gate and interestingly only two Muslims had there own shops while the rest were owned by Hindus,” he said.

He said, after partition, Muslims occupied the market and Akbari Mandi gradually became the biggest market of grains and food items in Punjab. He said, for the last 3 to 4 years, Akbari Mandi had been losing its visitors due to various problems.

Muhammad Ilyas, a shopkeeper, said it was very difficult for them to maintain their business in the market due to narrow lanes where even pedestrian faced problems while walking. He added that residents of Akbari Mandi also faced serious problems to carry out a Janaza from within the market during the business hours.

Another shopkeeper, Ayaz, said both the market roads and sanitation system were very poor. Excreta of animals could be witness everywhere in the market where food items were being sold. He said animal excreta and leftovers of grains and other food items went into the open drains in the market, resulting in its choking.

“The rainy season creates a serious mess in the market because all the market roads are submerged in rainwater mixed with the filthy sewer water,” said Jamal Khan, another market trader.

Akbari Mandi Union president Mehboob Anwar Bobby said Akbari Mandi was the largest grain market of Pakistan. He said the underground water pipes were in awful condition and required immediate repair. He claimed that more than 70 percent of the local residents had shifted from the market and at present 30 to 40 percent, shops were available on rent.

He revealed that there was no godown facility for the shopkeepers due to which they had to hire different places outside the market to store their stocks.

When contacted, Lahore DCO Sajjad Bhutta said shifting of Akbari Mandi was on the agenda of the CDGL but the process would take some time. He said the CDGL was already considering shifting the location of grain market, slaughterhouse, bus stand, vegetable and fruit markets from outside the city and across the River Ravi.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=133415