PESHAWAR
The shortage of car parking in shopping malls and business arcades in Peshawar city has irked Eid and iftar shoppers besides causing traffic jams.
These days, people were facing a lot of problems in Peshawar to park their vehicles owing to lack of car parking facilities in shopping markets especially in city, cantonment and university road and worst traffic jams in Karimpura, Hasthnagri, Saddar Road, Jahngirabad and board areas especially during iftar were almost a routine matter.
Car parking has become a great problem not only for motorists but also for the shopkeepers in main bazaars of the city Shafi market, Sonhri Masjid Road, Opposite Bara Bazaar, Qisa Khwani bazaar, Arbab Road, Jehangir Abad and Karkano markets and people have to wait for hours to move to their respective destination. Riaz Khan, who visited Karimpura bazar with family , told APP on Wednesday that we have been trapped in a rush for nearly two hours due to traffic jams and broke fast on the road last evening. In the absence of a proper parking facility, he said, it is very hard for customers to park the vehicles which are often lifted by the traffic police and shoppers have to pay an extra amount as fine to get their vehicle back.
The motorists are being seen keep on moving in search of a parking place for their vehicles while traffic wardens try every way for ensure a smooth flow of traffic, but apparently seen helpless owing to lack of proper parking spaces in markets in Peshawar. The visitors requested the authorities to make proper parking spaces in all the main markets of Peshawar as lack of parking lots creates traffic jams on roads and precious time of shoppers are being wasted.
Ehtisham Qaisar, a motorist coming to Nowshera told APP that he was searching for parking place for the last one hour in Karimpura bazaar, but because of lack of parking lots it is very difficult to find any suitable place and resultantly his precious time was being wasted.
The shopkeepers, who are parking their own vehicles in front of their shops and occupy the place for full day were also added to the difficulties of shoppers these days, he added. “As it was not the responsibility of PTI government to ensure parking places in all the big shopping malls and separate parking lots in all the markets of Peshawar,” Qaiser said.
He said people of Peshawar wanted car parking facilities, roads and communication facilities rather than Rapid Bus Service. Sajid Ali, another motorist of Nowshera said he had parked his vehicle some 100 meters away from the main market because of traffic rush and lack of parking space in Karimpura market.
PTI Govt should ask the owners of the main shopping malls to make proper parking lots, otherwise did not permit them to construct their plazas and markets. “Who is responsible for the traffic mess today we are facing on occasion of the upcoming Eid,” he said.
Ali said traffic wardens are wondering here and there and imposing fines on motorists for wrong parking, but there is no one to guide us where we park our vehicles. He said markets where parking facilities were available were charging very heavily these days and people are being forced to park their vehicles on roadsides.
There is very limited parking space for vehicles in Saddar Bazaar that is why people are parking their vehicles in no parking zones, which is one of the reasons for traffic jams, he explained. The lack of parking also affects traders’ and vendors’ business and many wealthy customers are avoiding visiting the main markets of the city due to this problem.
The traffic situation is also different from market to market. The markets, which are entertaining lower middle class, low income groups and middle class are facing more severe traffic problems than those entertaining upper or elite class these days.
Traffic jams on Saddar Road especially from FC Chowk to Gharbai police station besides Arbab Road where finding appropriate parking for vehicles was almost impossible during peak hours as a long queues of cars were being seen parked on roads side, creating traffic mess and reaching homes in time becomes merely a dream for victors.
One of the main reasons behind traffic problems in markets is the makeshift stalls that have literally made their way to the footpath leaving no option for pedestrians to walk on the roads. The visitors of the markets believe traffic choke in markets waste considerable time and the time that one has to spend in traffic jam could be spent on shopping instead but it is still a dream for Peshawarities.
Every year people have to go through the same mental torture due to lack of car parking as no solid measure has been taken to address this grave problem in Peshawar that was once consider City of Flowers.
