Engines of vehicles have encroached footpaths in Saddar. — White Star
Engines of vehicles have encroached footpaths in Saddar. — White Star

RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) and traffic police have turned a blind eye to severe traffic congestion caused by automobile workshops in Saddar.

For the last year, the RCB has made towering claims about purging markets of all kinds of encroachments in order to ease the flow of traffic, but the campaign appears to be more of an eyewash than a large-scale anti-encroachment effort.

The civic authorities have not dealt with owners of automobile workshops in main Saddar who have extended their shops onto the pavements and the sides of the road.

Spare parts and car engines can be seen displaced on the pavements and sides of the road by Adamjee Road near Hathi Chowk, while the roads in Ahata Mitho Khan are difficult to drive through.

RCB cantonment executive officer says campaign to be launched against automobile workshops, encroachments

Similar crowds can be seen on the road connecting City Saddar Road with Kashmir Road near Baoo Mohallah, as the owners of workshops have parked vehicles on the sides of roads and created obstacles to traffic.

In addition to permanently encroaching on pavements and roadsides, the establishment of such workshops in residential areas is also a violation of RCB rules and regulations.

Although the area is residential, it is gradually converting to a commercial space. More than 200 automobile workshops and welders are operating in this area.

Visitors to Saddar, the Rawalpindi Railway Station and Raja Bazaar have made a number of complaints, but the civic authority has yet to act. While anti-encroachment drives that start in this area every year, the workshops always return.

Ahata Mitho Khan resident Mehmood Siddiqui said traffic is jammed in this area between 9am and 6pm every day, making it difficult for people to use main roads.

Taxis and rickshaws refuse to come to the area in the mornings and the evenings because of the congestion, he claimed, and local residents have difficulty reaching hospitals in case of emergencies as well.

“Due to the RCB’s indifference, the area has become Rawalpindi’s Sohrab Goth or Bilal Gunj. One can find smuggled engines and old engines, and owners of automobile workshops repair vehicles on the roads and pavements and create hurdles in the flow of traffic,” Chota Bazaar resident Tanveer Butt.

He said they had lived in this area for 20 years. Automobile workshops had increased in the area for the last 10 years, he said, and the rising noise and environmental pollution in the area was creating problems for them.

Sheikh Rehan, a motorist, said he uses the road to get to his shop in Ghakhar Plaza, but the traffic there wastes time and fuel. He claimed his petrol consumption had increased from Rs300 per day to Rs700 per day because of traffic congestion in the city.

City Traffic Police spokesperson Wajid Satti confirmed that the traffic congestion in the area around the railway station and Ahata Mitho Khan was due to the automobile workshops.

He said the traffic police simply maintains the flow of traffic, and hurdles should be removed by the civic authority.

RCB Cantonment Executive Officer Sabtain Raza told Dawn the board was aware of the problems facing residents and trying to provide them with better civic facilities.

He said he had visited the area and directed the RCB’s enforcement cell to clear the roads and pavements and received a report on the removal of encroachments. However, he said, if the encroachments were not removed he would check the matter.

Mr Raza said a campaign would be launched against workshops and other kinds of encroachment in the area.

“The next week will be an eventful week as we will launch massive action against those who have created troubles for the residents. We are preparing data on permanent and temporary encroachments while checking the land records of the area,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2018

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