Despite the repeated operations conducted by the civic agencies of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the number of encroachments has been increasing rapidly, creating inconvenience for commuters and pedestrians.
The vehicles parked by car dealers in front of their showrooms are also a form of encroachments which are creating problems for motorists. Some showroom owners park their vehicles on footpaths, forcing pedestrians to walk on the road and risking their lives. The most affected places are G-8 Markaz, I-9 Markaz and Karachi Company in Islamabad and Murree Road in Rawalpindi.
The anti-encroachment departments of the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) launched anti-encroachment campaigns time and again, but never tried to touch these showrooms as most of them are being run by influential people.
The residents of several localities alleged the officials of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) were reluctant to take action against these car dealers as they took bribe from them regularly.
On the other hand, the owners of these car showrooms have their own point of view and insist that they are not violating any law. “I don’t think our vehicles inconvenience pedestrians. People have become used to such practices,” said Ahmed Nawaz, a car dealer. He said it was wrong to blame them as encroachments existed everywhere. “The shopkeepers of Super Market and Jinnah Super display their products in front of their shops. In the downtown areas of Rawalpindi, vehicles are so tightly parked in open spaces and on footpaths that pedestrians find no space to pass through them,” he added.
A senior official of the CDA enforcement department said the department had launched an operation in the main markets of the city from where they had received a deluge of complaints. He said that due to shortage of staff it was difficult to counter the gigantic challenges. He claimed that the department would soon succeed in removing encroachments from the fronts of showrooms. He added they had to be careful while dealing with the car dealers as most of the cars on display did not belong to them. He, however, said strict action would be taken against the violators without any discrimination.