KARACHI, Dec 7: The federal government had directed the district governments to ensure establishment of Bachat bazaars in their respective areas.

In this respect Town Nazims have been given the authority and some of them have further relegated it to union councils.

However, the involvement of bureaucrats of the provincial government is undermining the whole exercise.

A large number of district Nazims from Sindh, during their meeting with the president in Islamabad, had informed him of the undue interference of provincial secretaries in the internal affairs of the district government.

A similar situation exists in Karachi where complaints have been received from several Towns, including the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town.

A Ramazan bazaar in Aero Club, set up by certain influentials through obtaining a permission directly from the home department, has been creating trouble in the area.

The Nazim of Gulshan—i-Iqbal has given permission for holding 20 Bachat bazaars in the Town charging different fees from them, ranging from Rs6000 to Rs60,000 on the basis of location, area of plot and duration of bazaars.

Some fee is also charged by the Town Administration for holding any mela (carnival) or bazaar on privately-owned plots, as the Town administration has to clean up the area and other facilities used by visitors and participants.

They approached Town Nazim Abdul Wahab and demanded of him to cancel the permission given by him for a Bachat bazaar on the main road as it might affect the Aero Club bazaar.

The Nazim asked for fee from the organizers which infuriated them and resulted in an exchange of hot words.

According to the sources, the Town Nazim has received a couple of calls from a provincial secretary asking him to cancel the Bachat bazaar in front of Aero Club.—PPI