The Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) weekly bazaar located at Peshawar Morr, comprising over 2,700 stalls, has been operating without electricity for four years since its establishment. The bazaar had been established in 2008 to facilitate and provide relief to poorer segments of the federal capital, but electricity for the bazaar has not been ensured so far, due to which shoppers and stallholder face problems. Stallholders complained that the CDA had setup weekly bazaars but had not provided electricity, which affected their business as they had to wrap up before sun set. They said most shoppers visited the bazaar in the evening on Tuesday and Friday, as people had to attend offices during the day, but due to a lack of electricity, they had to go back without buying anything. Rasheed Khan, a stallholder, said they had repeatedly requested the authorities to provide them electricity, but the CDA and IESCO officials had not taken the matter seriously for reasons best known to them. “We suffer terribly during summers as there is no electricity and we cannot afford running generators all day,” he lamented. CDA officials said that timings for the weekly bazaar had been set from morning till evening, thus they did not need electricity. Electricity wasn’t provided to any weekly bazaar in the city, they added.
