‘Officials behind encroachment’
Vendors have set up stalls of shoes on a street in Rawalpindi, which according to local traders is possible on payment of grati-fication to RMC officials. PHOTO: EXPRESS
RAWALPINDI:
Officials of the very department responsible for removing encroachment are conniving with hawkers and street vendors to allow occupation of streets and footpaths, shopkeepers told The Express Tribune on Wednesday.
Due to the negligence of Anti-Encroachment Department, the streets and markets of Rawalpindi have become a hotbed of encroachment, they said.
According to traders of the old city area, the department’s officials receive monthly payments locally called ‘monthlies’ from the encroachers against letting them set up stalls and kiosks on footpaths and roadsides.