FAISALABAD: The lack of parking areas in and around the eight Clock Tower bazaars is not only causing mental agony to those doing business there and the visitors, but the issue was also hitting economic activity in the city’s trade hub.

The Clock Tower, a landmark of this congested city is surrounded by Kutchary, Rail, Kharkhana, Montgomery, Jhang, Bhawana, Aminpur and Chiniot bazaars which are considered hub of different trade activities.

These busy bazaars mostly comprising shops of yarn, fabrics, books, jewellery, watches, electronics etc, are visited by thousands of people from across the district daily.

However, the shopkeepers as well 0as visitors are much perturbed by the parking issues in these bazaars which have now started affecting the businesses in the area.

The problem is acute in Kutchary, Jhang, Bhawana and Rail bazaars where shopkeepers have even rented out the footpaths in front of their shops, while illegal construction was also rampant there, mocking the town officials.

Finding no other place to park there vehicles, the shopkeepers and their employees have also started occupying the access roads and streets around these bazaars. Riaz Shahid, a trader of Yarn market, said customers felt reluctant to visit the bazaars because they had to spend considerable time and fuel before they found some suitable place to park their vehicles.

He said a number of yarn market shopkeepers had shifted their business outside the Montgomery Bazaar because of the parking problem and the city district government seemed unable to resolve the issue.

Sensing the seriousness of the issue the district government has planned four parking plazas near Clock Tower bazaars.

A district government official told Dawn that District Coordination Officer Noorul Ameen Mengal had announced the plazas in November 2013, along with establishment of a parking company, to help resolve the issue. Work on the project was underway and the plan had also been discussed with the Punjab government, he added.

Because of the haphazard parking motorcycle theft was also common in the area while the traffic wardens too had to go through a lot of hassle by lifting the wrongly parked vehicles.

A warden requesting anonymity said controlling parking and traffic inside the Clock Tower bazaars had become a daunting task. He also complained of traders’ non-cooperation.

Imran Sheikh, a mobile phone trader of Kutchary Bazaar, said to avoid the agony of finding a parking place, the customers now prefer to visit other markets like the one in D Ground.