LAHORE, Sept 18: Traders blocked Ferozepur Road for five minutes or so to protest an anti-encroachment operation launched in Ichhra Main Bazaar on Tuesday morning, and their unity compelled the Samanabad Town officials to leave the site without completing their task.
Around 230 shopkeepers and their salesmen gathered in the bazaar and later came on the road at around 9:30am and succeeded in stopping anti-encroachment squad officials from razing platforms from outside their shops.
Led by Town Officer (Regulations) M Idress, the squad members started gathering near Ichhra Morr at around 8:30am. Accompanied by police, they entered the bazaar at 9am when almost all the shops were closed and later they started clearing footpaths and pedestrian’s ways by removing permanent and temporary structures.
A watchman of Farooq-i-Azam Market woke up some office-bearers of the traders’ unions residing in Tanveer Centre who later called their other fellows.
In the meantime, officials had razed over a dozen platforms on both sides from Bhindara Centre to Usman Market when shopkeepers and their salesmen started gathering there.
The shopkeepers later asked the anti-encroachment squad to stop their work and go away. This was followed by an exchange of heated argument that compelled the town officials to leave without completing their mission.
Later, the traders came on the Ferozepur Road while chanting slogans against district and town nazims and blocked the road. In the meantime, traders’ representatives approached District Coordination Officer (DCO) Mian Ijaz and asked the protestors to end blockage of Ferozepur Road and return to their shops.
Sheikh Naeem of the Qaumi Tajir Ittehad told this scribe that the anti-encroachment operation was carried out without taking traders into confidence.
“Usually, the authorities concerned serve notices and hold talks with traders’ representatives before launching any such operation. We have given an undertaking to the DCO that we will ourselves remove all such structures that obstruct people from moving on freely.”
A trader, Arif, said he and other shopkeepers had yet to recover from the losses of Bhindara Centre fire that erupted around a year ago and the town officials caused a loss ranging from Rs8,000 to Rs100,000 to around 75 shops without any justification on Tuesday, he said.
Another trader, Iftikhar, said they again paid the price for an alleged tussle going on between the town nazim and a provincial minister.
A senior official of Samanabad Town told Dawn that Ichhra Main Bazaar traders had been asked around a week ago to remove all illegal permanent and temporary structures from one of the busiest markets of the city that impede unhindered movement of the masses.
“Removal of illegal structures from Ichhra Main Bazaar had become necessary for security reasons. With Eidul Fitr approaching, rush in the market is on the rise with every passing day and we want to ensure safety of every visitor. We’ll continue visiting the bazaar till the removal of all encroachments,” said the officer who wished not to be named.