Rawalpindi: Work on Raja Bazar parking plaza ‘to commence next month’

[Naveed Yaseen]

Suzuki pickup and wagon stand to be shifted to alternative site

Khalid Iqbal
The work on the Rs90 million multi-storey parking plaza in Raja Bazaar will commence in the first week of March. The Suzuki pickup and wagon stand at Fawara Chowk will be shifted to an alternative site.

District Nazim Raja Javed Ikhlas told ‘The News’ here on Tuesday that the Punjab government has approved the project of construction of a parking plaza in the city and its design has been completed. “I am in touch with the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) for commencement of work on the multi-storey parking plaza,” he added.

He said that it would be a model-parking plaza, having five storeys in which more than 2,000 vehicles could be parked at a time.

The district nazim said that the Suzuki pickup and wagon stand at Fawara Chowk, Raja Bazaar, would be shifted to another site and the local administration would call a meeting with transporters in this regard.

“With the construction of the multi-storey parking plaza, people visiting Bara Market, Raja Bazaar, Sabzi Mandi, Sarafa Bazaar, Moti Bazaar, Trunk Bazaar, Narankari Bazaar and other nearby bazaars could easily park their vehicles,” he said.

However, Suzuki pickup and wagon drivers at Fawara Chowk told ‘The News’ that they would not shift the stand to an alternative site. They said that first the local administration should arrange alternative space for them to set up a stand in Raja Bazaar otherwise they would go on strike.

Meanwhile, people who visit Raja Bazaar and other bazaars have welcomed the initiative of the Punjab government.

Mumtaz Haider Qureshi, a resident, said that he had stopped shopping in Saddar, Raja Bazaar, Commercial Market and other markets due to lack of parking space. “If we park our cars in ‘no-parking’ zones, traffic wardens impose fines on us. This is a good step and such plazas should also be built in other markets as well,” he said.

Welcoming the construction of parking plaza, Shaikh Muhammad Latif, a shopkeeper in Bara Market, said that business would boost with parking plaza at Fawara Chowk. Customers don’t come to Bara Market due to parking problem, he said.

Muhammad Younis, a senior traffic warden, said that the problem of traffic blockade would decrease with the construction of the parking plaza. Customers would be able to park their vehicles at a proper place and traffic would remain in smooth flow in Raja Bazaar.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=162023