Rawalpindi - The participants of first meeting of Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) on Monday raised their deep concerns over encroachments on all the major roads and in main markets of the city that made lives of citizens miserable.

They demanded mayor and deputy mayor to take stern action against the encroachers. 

Chairmen of over 20 union councils attended the introductory meeting of the corporation and delivered short speeches. All of them raised their primary concerns against encroachments in the city.

They asked the mayor and deputy mayor to address the allegations of collection of Rs74 million from encroachers in the city. 

Raja Mushtaq said that the encroachments in the city also lead to traffic gridlocks on major roads.

He said Commercial Market was one of the biggest markets in the city. It is choked with encroachments, he added. There is need to clean the market of the menace, he said.

Ghayyur Butt said that an issue in Satellite Town was the bad sewerage system. He urged upon the mayor to take immediate action against the encroachers.

Speakers congratulated the mayor and asked him to pay immediate attention on the traffic mess and encroachments.  

The elected UC representatives asked the mayor to also address issue of clean drinking water. They also asked the mayor to inform them at least two days before summoning the meeting of the RMC.

Mayor Sardar Naseem also formally assumed charge of his office assured the members that he would take up the issue of encroachments seriously.

He added that he would make sure that officials from Town Municipal Authority were present in every meeting of the corporation.