ISLAMABAD  – Vendors in twin cities of Islamabad Rawalpindi continue to carry out their small business activities on footpaths which cause a number of problems for the citizens.
It was witnessed that dozens of vendors, were selling different items including used cloths, shoes, toys, fruits and food items such as burgers, Shawarma, Kabab, Smosas, chips by setting up their pushcarts or occupying different sites in the markets by setting up both moveable and non-moveable stalls at different markets temporarily.
Various markets including Aabpara, Faizabad, Melody, Karachi Company, Commercial Market, Saddar, Raja Bazaar and other parts of the city are rife with  encroachments. The growing encroachments have not only marred beauty of the both cities but also damaged roads, causing hardships for pedestrians and motorists alike.
Qasim Ali, a stallholder at Abpara while talking to APP said that he had set up a stall at a footpath, as he had no other option due to sky rocketing rents.
 While justifying his illegal practice Qasim Ali said, “We also have to earn bread for our families. I set up my stall in this market because I had no other space to do business.” Residents of Sector G-6 complained that the shopkeepers were misusing footpaths.
When contacted an official of Capital Development Authority (CDA) Anti-Encroachment Department he maintained that they used to conduct anti-encroachments drives and seize the encroached items. Traders needed to cooperate with the CDA to eradicate encroachments. He said that the Enforcement Directorate of CDA regularly visits different areas  of the city and confiscates stalls of encroachers, he said.