RAWALPINDI: The increasing encroachments in the federal capital’s Super Market are not only making the city ugly and creating problems for shoppers but also have become a security risk.
Almost all the pavements and parking lots have been encroached by vendors dealing in different goods. Shopkeepers reportedly charge money from the vendors for setting up stalls in front of their outlets.
According to official sources, most of the vendors who have set up stalls in the Super Market are those who had earlier been doing business at Faizabad on state land and their illegal outlets were dismantled by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in its anti-encroachment drive.
The sources said that shopkeepers were the main reason for mushroom growth of encroachments as they mint money from the vendors. Whenever, the CDA tried to launch a campaign to remove the encroachments, the same influential people got it stopped. Aslam, a regular shopper at the Super Market, said the people visiting the market faced difficulty in moving freely as almost all the pavements and verandas were occupied by illegal stallholders.
He alleged that the shopkeepers themselves were responsible for the mess as they mint money from the vendors in return for allowing them to set up stalls in front of their shops.
Karim, another buyer at the market, said located in the posh sector, the business centre is visited by foreigners and diplomats. Presence of unregistered vendors was a security risk as in their grab terrorists might intrude the market, he added.
