THIS is apropos Manzar Bhatti’s letter ‘Parking mafia’ (July 7) wherein he has stated the ordeal of his car having been lifted by the traffic police at Zainab Market, Karachi, only because he refused to pay Rs100 and hand over keys of his car to men in civil dress running illegal car parking there.

The writer has desperately asked if there is any law in the city. The city government a few years ago had constructed a spacious parking plaza in theSaddar area by spending a whopping amount and also enacted by-laws through the city council whereby car parking in that area was made illegal to make the market area less congested.

Many busy roads in those days in Saddar, like Bohri Bazar, Preedy Street and Abdullah Haroon Road, were cleared off car parking . This had resulted in a calm atmosphere for visitors and markets. It had also eased traffic flow in this busiest market of the city.

Three more parking plazas were to be constructed in that area. However, with the termination of the city government, it was the Karachi cantonment which first violated laws by allowing car parking through private contractors in areas adjacent to military offices like Zainab Market, Karachi Press Club, Office of Military Accounts and Karachi Cantonment Board.

Since then, the parking mafia and traffic menace have returned to the whole of Saddar area, thanks to flagrant violation of laws by those who are (not supposed to be) the defenders of law.

Raihan A. K. Lodhi

Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2014