| MARDAN: The people here on Tuesday asked the relevant authorities to remove encroachments from the Mardan city.
One Farid Khan said that the encroachers had occupied the majority of the city bazaars in connivance with officials concerned, adding that the encroachments caused traffic jams and inconvenienced the pedestrians and motorists alike.
He argued that encroachers had virtually occupied Charsadda Chowk, Malakand Chowk, Pakistan Chowk, Par Hoti Chowk, Shahidano Bazaar, Sarfaraz Ganj Bazaar, Bank Road, Shamsi Road, Adda Road and places in the Madan city limits.
He added the encroachers had established illegal setups alongside roads by placing their showcases on footpaths bearing items for sale troubling the shoppers visiting the marketplaces.
One Anwar Saeed, a local, alleged that the officials concerned received bribes from the encroachers, therefore, they did not take action against them.
He added that the owners and shopkeepers had rented out the footpaths outside their shops to vendors selling various goods.
The citizen said that encroachments were on the rise because the encroachers had backing of influential persons and the authorities concerned.
He added that all the shopkeepers were affiliated with traders’ organisations, therefore, they did not face any action from the authorities concerned due to their ‘connections’.
He claimed that the union leaders of the traders’ associations exerted pressure on the administration not to take action against the encroachers. |
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