RAWALPINDI: The traders from Rawalpindi have threatened to stage a sit-in with their family members after the country`s Independence Day on August 14, if the Punjab government doesn`t open the main road from Fawara Chowk to Hamilton Road (Dingi Khui) in Raja Bazaar for general traffic.

Speaking ata press conference at Rawalpindi Press Club with a number of city shopkeepers and businessmen here on Monday, Traders Action Committee President Anjum Pervaiz alleged that the provincial government`s plan to turn Raja Bazaar into a pedestrian street hadruined their business.

Mr Pervaiz said there was a serious problem of loading and unloading of goods as no vehicle was allowed to enter the road linking some more than 20 markets in the area. He further said those running shops on rent had started to leave the area.

`Our business has been destroyed. The owners are forced to fire the employees because the business is not going well,` he said, adding that traffic of many areas of the city inside Raja Bazaar was severely affected.

He said the traders had already presented their demands to the city police officer, but there was no response from the police or the district administration.

`We are not against the beautification work but closure of roads affected the business activity in the main bazaars,` he said, reminding thatthelocaltradershad supported Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz`s efforts to eliminate encroachments.He said the road closure had affected the businesses of some 12,000 traders.

`This city is ours. We are the [real] stakeholders. We pay taxesregularly. We live and die here. You are here today, and may not be here tomorrow. Our demands are legitimate. These should be fulfilled,` he went on saying.`If the government does not change its decision, we will protest and stage a sit-in with our families after August 14, which will continue until the demands are accepted,` he said.

Those present in the press conference included Chaudhry Sohail, Malik Tahir, Malik Nisar, Haji Sadagat, Asif Akram, Kamal Pasha, Sheikh Shabbir and Sheikh Afzal.

It may be recalled that the traders had been protesting since February when Raja Bazaar was turned into a vehicle-free zone from Fawara Chowk to Hamilton Road, commonly known as Dingi Khoi.

A senior official of the district administration had told Dawn that Raja Bazaar would be turned into a model bazaar, adding the district administration, Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA), the RMC, and the traffic police had started working on the beautification project.

`In the first phase, Raja Bazaar will be closed for vehicle movement from morning to night, and all theSuzuki vans and Chingchi rickshaws will not be allowed to enter the 350-metre road. In the second phase, the traffic police will control the traffic congestion, and in the third phase, all electricity and telephone and cable lines will be moved underground,` he had reportedly said, claiming that four parking sites had been established, which included the Fawara Chowk Parking Plaza, old offices of the RMC, Namak Mandi, and near the Gunjmandi Police Station on the bank of Leh Nullah. Over the last 10 months, the district administration had cleared all roads in the Raja Bazaar area of temporary and permanent encroachments.

Rawalpindi Traders Association President Shahid Ghafoor Paracha, who heads another group of the traders, said the administration had allowed traders to load and unload the goods in the morning and night time while handcarts would be allowed to transfer goods from market to the gates of the pedestrian street.