ISLAMABAD: As the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board undertakes a task to turn Bank Road in Saddar into a car-free zone, the decision has been criticised by the shopkeepers who claim it’s hurting their businesses since the shoppers have trouble accessing the area due to “lack of parking spaces”.

In 2015, a similar move to turn the road into a pedestrian zone had been introduced, but after only a year traffic was allowed back on this road.

At the time, the vehicle-free zone started from Capital Cinema to Kashmir Road and gates were installed at the entry point. Besides, the RCB also set up a sitting area in front of the National Bank of Pakistan around a century-old peepal tree (also known as the Buddha tree).

The administration had hung pictures of 19th-century Bank Road and also installed a replica of the 1908 model of Ford on the road.

Shopkeepers unhappy with the move

But only after a year, the project came to an end. This time, the project aims to turn the area from Murree Road to Capital Cinema square – a stretch of over 1.1km – into a ‘pedestrian street’. Sitting areas have been constructed in front of the Singapore Plaza from Murree Road to Canning Road.

Besides, uniform signboards for shops, benches and lampposts have been installed to facilitate the visitors. Though the visitors appreciated the work, the traders were of the view that due to the pedestrian street, the number of ‘window shoppers’ had increased and most of their customers had moved to the Commercial Market in Satellite Town and Islamabad.

Cantonment Traders Association General Secretary Zafar Qadri told Dawn that in order to remodel the bazaar, the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board started a project to move electricity cables underground on the Bank Road, Adamjee Road, and Saddar Road, followed by the replacement of signboards on the Bank Road. Now, this road has been turned into a pedestrian street.

He said an audit should be conducted to find out how much was spent on the beautification of the Bank Road. He said these roads were reconstructed two years ago, but the construction work had started again. He said the closure of the Bank Road had led to traffic congestion on Murree Road, Haider Road, and Kashmir Road.

Speaking about the flaws in the pedestrian street project, he said there was no parking for the customers which discouraged shoppers from coming to Bank Road for shopping after walking more than one kilometre. “The shopkeepers are sitting idle,” he claimed.

“Daily more than 2,000 cars entered Bank Road. A total of 200 cars are parked in Rania Plaza parking, 150 cars each in Gakhar Plaza and City Plaza, 400 cars on Bank Road, and the remaining in other parking lots. But due to the closure of Bank Road, all these cars will be parked on Haider Road, Adamjee Road, and other parts of the city centre, as existing parking places are not enough,” he said.

The visitors appreciated the pedestrian zone, however, but asked the administration to construct parking plazas or dedicated spaces in Saddar for parking. Muhammad Imran, a visitor, said that the sitting area on the Bank Road was beautiful, but they had to park their cars at a distance, which, he believed, was a waste of time.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2024