‘Car Mela’ in Sector G-8 annoys residents :Islamabad

[LahoreEstate]

Monday, April 06, 2009
by Noor Aftab

Islamabad

The ‘Car Mela’ being held on weekly basis in the residential Sector G-8 has become a nuisance for the residents who feel helpless against this commercial activity in front of their houses.

Some 400 to 500 vehicles are parked at roadsides every Sunday near Markaz G-8 where hundreds of potential buyers are seen examining these cars, much to the annoyance of the residents of the sector.

Initially, the activity was carried out strictly in the Markaz G-8, but now the inner roads of the sector are also occupied where people remain present the whole day.

“We have serious concerns over this commercial activity in front of our houses, as it disturbs our privacy,” said Nazakat Hussain, a resident of the sector.

According to some inhabitants of the sector, the car dealers operating in the Markaz G-8 are involved in the activity, as they get commission from every deal. On the other hand, the car dealers, dismissing this impression, said that they have no contacts with the people who come there to sell their vehicles.

“We have our own customers and don’t want to get involved in selling or purchasing of cars belonging to unknown persons,” said one of the major car dealers who is doing business in the sector for last eight years. He said those who blame them for getting commission are unaware of the situation because “now the situation is very critical due to rising terrorism, especially in Islamabad, and we cannot take any risk at the time when any wrong deal can push us into troubled waters”.

Most of the car sellers who try to remain in the central area of the Markaz G-8 sometimes park their vehicles in the middle of the road where various groups of buyers get engaged in thorough examination of each and every part of vehicles, creating a lot of problems in smooth flow of traffic.

The food outlets at Markaz G-8 also face the music, as their customers find no place to park their vehicles. The employees of one of the famous fast food joints constantly stop the car sellers from parking their vehicles in front of their outlet.

The situation sometimes gets ‘worse’ when car sellers forcefully try to park their vehicles in front of these food outlets thus leading to exchange of harsh words between employees and car dealers. “We like visiting a fast food outlet in the area on the weekly off-day, but we have to wait till late evening because if we go there at daytime we have to park our vehicle too far away from that outlet,” said Jamshed Kiani who lives near Peshawar Morr.

When contacted SSP (traffic) Dr. Sultan Azam Temuri told ‘The News’ that there was no permission to organise ‘Car Mela’ on roads and those who were involved in such kind of activities would be dealt with according to the law.

Replying to a question, he said, it was totally against the rules and regulations and pledged “I am going to send teams to the spot in Sector G-8 and all roads would be cleared up within a few hours.”

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=171068