FAISALABAD – Due to the increasing number of protest rallies in the city, the city government is considering reserving a venue for all sorts of protestors to discharge their anger against the government without halting the city life. The idea was conceived by District Coordination Officer (DCO) Nasim Sadiq who floated his proposal during his recent meeting with the trader’s community.
Ghanta Ghar Chowk and surrounding eight bazars’ area is currently being used as the spring board of all protest rallies taking place in the city. As it is the nerve centre of the city and a daily volume of trade runs into millions but the strikes and rallies force the owners of shops, markets and trading centres to close their business that causes huge losses.
The frequency of rallies and protests have increased manifolds over recent months and the reality is that sometimes the protestors of a particular cause have to wait for their turn as the area is already occupied by the protestors of another cause.
If the trader’s community unanimously endorsed the proposal, the city government could ban the rallies in the Ghanta Ghar Chowk and provide Dhobi Ghat Ground as an alternative for all sorts of protests and rallies, the DCO said adding that the city government could better facilitate the protest activities in a reserved area like Dhobi Ghat Ground.
The meeting was attended by a large number of traders, wholesalers and shopkeepers and government officials including Senior Administrator Officer Khalid Manzoor, health officials, Anjuman Tajiran President Shahid Razzaq Sakka, General Secretary Mahmood Alam Jutt and association heads of traders from the eight bazaars.
The trading community had played a significant role in the hours of need like earthquake, floods or any other disaster, he said and assured the community that the government was committed to safeguard their business interests by providing them a friendly environment.
He told them that a plan was underway to shift the main wholesale markets such as Goal Saban Wala bazar, Goal Karyana bazar and Goal Lakarr Wala bazar outside the eight bazars area to relieve the traffic jams. He said these markets could be relocated outside Karkhana Bazar at government’s piece of land formerly used as Municipal Corporation’s building.
“The multi storey plaza can be raised at the venue wherein the ground floor can be reserved for parking”, he said. The demolishing of encroachments at Regal Road could boost up the commercial activities in the area, he said and expressed his determination to launch an operation to demolish all encroachments in the eight bazaars.
He assured at the same time that the carters and street vendors would not be turned jobless and the government would provide them with alternative venues to continue their activity. He said that Kotwali Road would be turned into a model highway by covering the road side drain and extending the road on both sides with a green belt in the centre to beautify the highway.
The DCO added that gas and electricity issues had already been forwarded to the appropriate levels such as FESCO and SNGPL and efforts were under way to find a viable solution. He appealed to the traders to extend their cooperation towards the eradication of the ugly practice of adulteration in the food items so that the government might push the black sheep out of this field.
The traders expressed their satisfaction over the initiatives taken by the city government and assured their utmost cooperation to the DCO in fulfilling his agenda.
