ISLAMABAD: The city’s two main weekly bazaars have been a casualty of the Azadi March and the government’s poor planning, causing problems for the local residents.

The weekly bazaars in H-9 and G-10 were the main attraction for the middle and lower middle class, already hit hard by rising inflation.

Officials said there were 2,600 stalls in H-9 bazaar and 1,500 in the G-10 bazaar, meaning about 4,100 families of the vendors were directly dependent on them.

However, the government allowed the JUI-F to hold its sit-in near the H-9 weekly bazaar and on the right of Kashmir Highway. The protesters later moved to Kashmir Highway and the government seems least bothered to pay heeds towards the problems being faced by the citizens because of the closure of the two weekly bazaars and Kashmir Highway for around two weeks.

No alternative arrangements have been made after H-9 and G-10 bazaars were closed due to Azadi March

“Today, the price of tomato in markets has reached Rs300 per kg. The weekly bazaars were the only place for the middle class to buy vegetables, fruits and other items at relatively cheaper rates. But the bazaars remain closed since Oct 30,” said Amjad Ali, a government schoolteacher.

He said if the government was unable to reopen the two bazaars, it could arrange makeshift bazaars in some other places to provide relief to the citizens.

Another citizen, Abid Ali, said besides vegetables, fruits and grocery items, the weekly bazaars also provided clothing for the winter, chicken, fish etc., on cheaper rates but “who cares about the poor”.

Meanwhile, a resident of G-10 said there was no logic behind the closure of the G-10 bazaar which was at a safer place near offices of the district administration.

“Because of the closure of these bazaars, prices of vegetables in markets have almost reached out of the range of salaried people,” he said, adding keeping the bazaars closed could be a move by the administration to discourage participants of the JUI-F who have to go to different markets such as Karachi Company for purchasing minor items.

The bazaars are being supervised by the Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA) of the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI). But the MCI did not explore any other place to organise even a makeshift bazaar.However, DMA Director Zafar Iqbal said the bazaars were closed due to security issues. He said he had been holding meetings with the district administration to resolve the issue.

He said both the bazaars were located near the protest venue and closed to avoid any mishap.

The H-9 bazaar opened every Sunday, Tuesday and Friday while G-10 and G-6 bazaars opened on Sundays only.

Officials said as an alternative, the G-6 Sunday bazaar could have been held for the entire week but the MCI and the local administration seemed not bothered by the hardship of the residents.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2019