RAWALPINDI: Traders and vendors in downtown have established stalls along the roadsides for Eid causing hurdles in smooth flow of traffic inconveniencing motorists and pedestrians.

Raja Bazaar, Bara Market, Moti Bazaar, Iqbal Road, Purana Qila and Benazir Bhutto Road are the main places where footpaths and roads remain clogged with pushcarts and stalls of Mehandi, shoes, ready made clothes, bangles, jewellery and other items of children and women folk.

During a visit, one can find that the majority of these stalls had been set up by shop owners.

Sometimes these encroachments increase so much that there is hardly any place left for pedestrians to walk, exposing them to road accidents.

But the role of Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) and traffic police to clear the roads for the smooth flow of traffic is nonexistent as they gave free hand to the traders and vendors to do what they want and put the people in trouble.

District administration claimed to have made all bazaars and markets free from encroachments but the ground realities are different.

Rehan Butt said stallholders encroaching pavements and roads had made driving quite difficult.

He said the departments concerned seem reluctant to take any action against the encroachers.

Tahir Khan, who was shopping at Bara Market, said that women were more vulnerable to traffic accidents, as the heavy crowd of buyers around the stalls halted their movement leaving them with no option but to use roads.

Some traffic wardens said that stalls set up on the pavements posed a threat to the life of pedestrians, as they were forced to use the roads crammed with heavy traffic.

“The political parties’ MPAs came to our bosses and stopped us if we tried to remove them,” they said.

“The traffic situation in the city goes from bad to worse in the afternoon when everyone heads towards their homes, but stalls and pushcarts, encroaching upon most parts of the roads, created hurdles in their movement.

“The haste to reach home often leads to accidents,” they said.

When contacted, Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation official said that the municipal corporation took serious notice of the issue and directed to remove the stalls creating hurdle in the smooth flow of traffic. 

“We started operation on Thursday and it will continue till Chand Raat,” he said and added that the RMC had already informed traders and warned them of strict action.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2023