RAWALPINDI: The roads and bazaars in the downtown area are shrinking due to the encroachments, creating hurdles in the smooth flow of traffic and causing inconvenience to the pedestrians.

The unchecked encroachments in the business centres speak volume about the inefficiency of the Rawal Town Municipal Administration (RTMA). The civic body claimed to have removed encroachments but a visit to the area showed that footpaths and roadsides had been taken over by encroachers.

The Punjab government had asked the City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) to remove encroachments from the inner city as traffic would be diverted from Murree Road to other areas during the construction of the metro bus elevated track.

However, the CDGR and traffic police did not take the matter seriously. The roadsides and footpaths have been encroached by vendors and shopkeepers, leaving no room for the vehicular traffic and pedestrians.

The shopkeepers in almost all the markets such as Raja Bazaar, Bara Market, Trunk Bazaar, City Saddar Road, Liaquat Road, Kashmiri Bazaar, Namakmandi, Ganjmandi, Mochi Bazaar, Bohar Bazaar, College Road, Gowalmandi Road, Jamia Masjid Road, Circular Road and Banni Chowk have occupied footpaths and roads.

During the Iftari hours, there is not only a traffic mess on these main arteries but also on all link roads.

The residents and shoppers criticised the administration and said the ill-planned construction work on the metro bus project was the main cause of the traffic jams.

“The traffic situation was stable in the city before the launch of the metro bus project. The local administration should have cleared the roads from encroachments before starting work on the project,” said Shahid Ahmed, a resident of Gawalmandi.

He said the residents of Jinnah Road, Ratta Amral Road, City Saddar Road, New Gawalmandi and Kashmiri Bazaar could not reach their homes from work before Iftari due to the traffic congestions. He said traffic wardens often disappeared from their duty spots.

“The local administration and the traffic wardens have failed to regulate traffic during rush hours,” said Mohammad Javed, a resident of Chittian Hattian.

He said the city traffic officer and the district coordination officer should visit these roads at Iftar time and check the performance for their staff.

Tauqeer Malik, a resident of Nayya Mohallah, said he had to park his car at Liaquat Road before Iftar and take it home after Taraveeh prayers when there was no traffic rush. Raja Amjad, a shopper, said due unavailability of space on footpaths and roadsides, they had to walk in the middle of the road. He said the encroachments blocked traffic creating problems for ambulances and other emergency service vehicles.

A senior official of the RTMA said the Punjab government had deployed all the staff of the TMA in Ramazan bazaars leaving no personnel behind to remove encroachments.

“The Ramazan bazaars are a political show and the government wanted the presence of maximum officials there,” he said.

When contacted, Town Officer Regulations Tauseef Ahmed Malik admitted that the encroachments in the downtown remained unchecked. He said there was shortage of staff and the situation would improve in the coming days.

He said the traffic mess at Iftar time was created by the citizens as everyone was in a hurry to reach their destinations. He also blamed the traffic police for the traffic gridlocks and said the removal of illegally parked motorcycles and cars on the roads was the responsibility of the traffic police.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2014