RAWALPINDI, July 15: The high rate of traffic growth in the Rawalpindi city and the cantonment areas has become a dilemma for the city administrators and a headache for car owners, who are finding parking spaces shrinking with every passing day.

There is no designated parking space in Rawalpindi and car owners keep struggling to find a secure place to park at all hours of the day. Town planners seem to have completely ignored this issue while designing and modifying the city.

The authorities have permitted investors to build plazas in the cantonment and city areas without making this conditional to the creation of parking spaces within the new buildings. The situation would have been different had the authorities anticipated the increased need for parking space with the building of each plaza.

The city district government is actively considering a proposal to construct a three-storey parking plaza at Dingi Khui, Raja Bazaar. According to the city district nazim, Raja Javed Akhlas, the car-parking plaza would be constructed in collaboration with the private sector. However, no timeframe has been given for this.

The cantonment authorities have yet to come up with such a proposal. The parking situation in the cantonment area is deteriorating each day and becoming unmanageable by the traffic police. They are tackling it through car-lifting but that is not a long-term solution.

In the absence of any adequate legal parking space, vehicle owners have no option other than to park on pavements, narrow streets, outside offices, shops and wherever they can find space without inconveniencing the public.

Rawalpindi is not lagging behind other major cities where the car ownership ratio has increased significantly due to easy credit by leasing companies.

Almost all government offices and hospitals, which have ample parking space, have started denying entry to private vehicles, possibly for ‘security reasons.’ This has added to the miseries of the public and aggravated the problem.

The official ‘car lifters,’ operating under the umbrella of the traffic police, have displayed dual standards. While they do not spare private vehicles, forcibly imposing fines, official vehicles can be seen parked right under the ‘no parking’ sign.

When attention was recently drawn to several official vehicles parked just in front of the AWT Plaza and the PIA sales office, the constable operating the car-lifting vehicle said, “these are untouchables.”

The Hospital Road, linking the Mall Road with the Cantonment General Hospital, has become the centre of illegal, haphazard parking and encroachments yet it continues to be ignored by the traffic police and the RCB.

In various city areas, roadside encroachments have created a mess for the traffic and pedestrians. By observing the situation at the Fawwara Chowk, Kohati Bazaar, Liaquat Road, DAV College Road, Gordon College Road (China Market), Raja Bazaar, Iqbal Road, Ganjmandi, Namakmandi, Jamia Masjid Road, Purana Qilla and Dingi Khui, one can conclude that these areas are devoid of any law and order. However, the situation is considerably better on a portion of the Liaquat Road, where the TMA offices are located.