Rawalpindi: Business centres abound with encroachments

[Naveed Yaseen]

by Malik Ayub Sumbal
The encroachment mafia has once against gripped most localities of the city and Tehsil Municipal Administration has literally failed to check the menace.

The most affected areas where encroachment mafia has occupied most of the space in front of shops and pavements include Raja Bazaar, Iqbal Road, College Road, Waris Khan, Committee Chowk, Sadiqabad, Saidpur Road, Commercial Market, Banni Chowk, Double Road, Katarian Market and Pindora.

Talking to ‘The News’ Ali Khan, said, “I came to Raja Bazaar but it is very messy around because there is no space for pedestrians to move around and do some shopping.

Look at all these people who have set up their stalls on the road in Bara Market where can the people who come to do some shopping go.”

He added, “A couple of months ago when the previous government of Mian Shahbaz Sharif was at the realm of power the anti-encroachment operations were conducted and we saw these roadside stall holders were evacuated from this market, but now these people have once again encroached the markets.”

It merits mentioning here there that several operations were conducted and anti-encroachment cells were established in each Tehsil Municipal Administration during previous government’s tenure to check the illegal practice, but all these operations have been stopped in the city since the imposition of governor’s rule as the authorities concerned are paying little heed to the issue.

Earlier the Teshil Municipal Administration (TMA) divided the Rawal Town into four zones and more than 100 personnel and a dozen vehicles were deployed at this task. The TMA Rawal Town confiscated goods of these encroachers and the department announced to auction these goods.

However, according to a source in the TMA told ‘The News’ that all the confiscated goods have been returned back to these encroachers after heavy fines have been charged from them.

Talking to ‘The News’ a shopkeeper in Commercial Market Saeed Jafri said, “ Where can we go we also have to earn bread and butter for our families. I set up my stall in this market because I had no other space to do business. Government should provide some space to us so we can earn our livelihood.”

When contacted by ‘The News’ District Coordination Officer Rawalpindi, Syed Mustafa Kamal who has recently taken charge of the office said, “I am making a complete strategy to gear up the operations against the encroachers and call on a meeting on March 28 to look all these matters in detail.”

When contacted by ‘The News’ to Tehsil Municipal Office, Irfan Saleem Butt said, “We are still trying to curb all these elements. In this regards we have made several meetings with the traders community to sort out the situation.”

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=168641