Encroachments irk twin cities' residents: ISLAMABAD/Rawalpindi

[LahoreEstate]

Published: May 22, 2009
ISLAMABAD (APP)- Shopkeepers encroach on footpaths in different commercial areas of twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi are creating problems for the pedestrians.
The encroachments on footpaths by shopkeepers is creating problems not only for the pedestrians but also in the smooth flow of traffic.
A resident of G-9 Visal Khan told this agency, that concerned authorities claims of clearing the city of all illegal encroachment, but these drives are against small stalls rather than the big-wigs. The shopkeepers at Karachi Company, Bahara Kohu, Raja Bazaar, and adjoining bazaars, have encroached on the footpaths.
Shopkeepers display goods on pavements while vendors put up stalls on roads, forcing pedestrians to walk in the middle of the roads.
Shams Abbasi, a resident of Karachi Company said that crossing the road was very difficult for them because all footpaths had been covered with illegal encroachments.
He added that it is the prime duty of the concerned authorities to keep footpaths and roads clear of encroachments. When contacted with an official of Enforcement Department of CDA in this regard, he said that CDA remove encroachments from markets and it had done so several times.
He said that CDA committed to keep the pedestrian ways clean and safe for pedestrian and it was a baseless allegation that the CDA had not done any practical work.He said the CDA warned shopkeepers not to encroach on footpaths otherwise they would be fined and dealt according to law.

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