Preparations in full swing to resume business activities in iconic bazaar
PESHAWAR: Six and a half years after its closure, the iconic Bara Market is ready to open again for business on February 5 due to return of peace in most of Khyber Agency.
During a visit to the sprawling market, one saw some construction activity as workers were busy carrying out repair and renovation work. There was excitement among the tribesmen even though construction work isn’t yet in full swing. It seems most of the traders and shopkeepers are waiting for the market to open and for the customers to return before re-investing in their businesses.
The Bara Market was closed down in 2009 when the security forces launched an offensive against the militants in the area. The Mangal Bagh-led Lashkar-i-Islam had taken control of Bara and set up a parallel administration that ran its court and prison and publicly awarded punishment to those it found guilty.
The situation has changed as the militants have been evicted and most displaced families have returned to Bara. Such was the confidence of the authorities that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan drove and walked in a part of the Bara Market on Tuesday when he inspected the preparations for reopening the bazaar.
Due to his political background, he insisted on talking to whoever was available at the market despite the visible discomfort of the officials accompanying him. Simple tribesmen in their broken Urdu told the Governor that they had returned to Bara after suffering displacement and were waiting for the market to open so that they could earn their livelihood.
A Pakistan Army official who received and briefed the Governor, there were more than 11,000 shops in the Bara Market when it closed down and around 6,000 shopkeepers have already given in writing to the administration that they were willing to start doing business in the bazaar again.
He said two bazaars, one selling mobile phones and accessories and the other with shops of diverse goods would be reopened in the first phase. The front portion of the buildings on both sides of the Bara Road had been demolished under a plan to widen the road’s width from 52 feet to 95 feet.
The façade of the one kilometre long market would be built by the government to give it uniformity and make it look beautiful. The administration too would build a quality market to promote business activities and generate revenue.
Governor Sardar Mahtab has already sanctioned Rs1 billion for turning Bara into a municipal committee, providing civic services and sports facilities to its inhabitants, reviving the Bara Market and improving the infrastructure.
A family park, slaughter house, fire-brigade, parking lot and Rescue service would also be developed. A major project nearing completion is the Mattani-Takhtabeg road that would bypass Peshawar and facilitate the movement of Afghanistan-bound cargo that presently passed through Hayatabad town much to the resentment of the urban population. The Bara Industrial Zone is also being established.
Khyber Agency’s Political Agent Shahab Ali Shah has been holding meetings to help remove bottlenecks in the run-up to the reopening of the Bara Market. At a recent meeting with parliamentarians, tribal elders and the traders’ representatives of Bara Market, he said power supply to the market had been restored on an emergency basis and tubewells and transformers were being repaired to ensure availability of drinking water. Terminals were being set up for light and heavy vehicles at the bazaar.
As security remains a concern, the Political Agent said five checkposts would be set up at the main entry points to Bara Market and manned by the Khassadar and Levies force. For surveillance purposes, closed circuit television (CCTV) would be installed at the roadside checkpoints.
