RAWALPINDI:
The underground cabling and beautification of Saddar Commercial Bazaar, the only mega project initiated by the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) in 2024, remained a bone of contention between the Cantonment administration and the business community.
The Rs 2,000-crore project remained a source of controversy mainly due to non-construction of two parking spaces and poor traffic management.
The business community has announced a sit-in in front of the RCB office on January 6, a massive protest and a two-hour shutdown strike.
Saddar commercial area, comprising Bank Road, Hyder Road, Kashmir Road, Adamji Road, King Road and Mall Road, has been converted into a pedestrian street of Bank Road, with limited parking spaces after Potohar One and Potohar Two.
By diverting traffic to other roads, the parking problem has been complicated. Considering this proposal, for some reasons, two multi-storey parking spaces cannot be constructed in Saddar. Also, no progress has been made in establishing a parking area at the state-owned GTS bus terminal on Adamjee Road, so the time-bound parking rule is being implemented at Pothohar One and Pothohar parking areas. Two. The parking fee increases by Rs 50 every hour.
While on other roads parking has increased to such an extent that the traffic crisis has also intensified on these roads.
Businessmen complain that commercial activities on Bank Road, which has the largest business center in the Saddar commercial area, have been severely affected. In this situation, traders find it difficult to pay electricity bills and continue their businesses, they added.
Zafar Qadri, general secretary of Anjuman Tajran Rawalpindi Cantt, terms the beautification and underground cabling project as an excellent project, but says due to inadequate parking system, commercial activities have been severely affected.
“Buyers have turned to the commercial market and Islamabad. Businessmen have no choice but to close their shops and lay off their employees. How will shopkeepers manage employees’ salaries, shop rents and electricity bills when they do not “Are there clients?” he questioned. Qadri said the traders would stage a sit-in in front of the RCB office on January 6.
RCB spokesperson Deputy Secretary Rashid Saqib says efforts are underway to expand parking capacity in the Saddar commercial area. The Potohar One parking lot, which is connected to Hyder Road Bank Road, also has ample parking capacity while more parking capacity is being arranged, he added.
Regarding the construction of parking spaces, the Board does not have the resources for it.
