Satellite Town’s charm falls by the wayside

Squashed in between Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Satellite Town was on one occasion a noiseless and silent residential locality. These days, it is crammed with shopping plazas and offices accommodating trading companies and the business community.

“As it is very close to the heart of the city and an easy drive from adjoining localities, star hotels and quite a lot of educational institutions, as a result, its real estate value has been shooting up. I also sold my house and settled in a neighboring locality,” says Sharmeen Zahra from Saidpur Road.

“Since the last two three decades, it has become a trend that the middle-class general population here has been selling their abodes to big builders and moving to other parts of the city. Consequently, beautiful multi-storied buildings have been mushrooming,” says Asadullah Ali.

“If big companies are swooping down on the main roads, smaller ones are setting up shops in the by-lanes. Those who cannot have the funds for offices in higher-end areas have been opting for neighboring localities. Even several famed residents have shifted from here,” says Sibte Haider.

“A huge building has come up in place of a bungalow on the corner of Fifth Road. It once belonged to an illustrious doctor. A bank has come up in the house belonging to a retired bureaucrat. He grew up here,’’ Azfar Hussain, an area resident recalls.

“One time, there was a bungalow on the premises of a petrol pump, at the Sixth Road near Siddique Public School. Film star Late Lala Sadhir with his wife Shimmy used to come here on a regular basis to meet his friend. Sadhir’s aunt as well used to live nearby, says Asbar Ali, another resident of the area.

“Satellite Town Commercial Market is another well-known landmark, where a great variety of shopping plazas has cropped up. The place is still the same with exception of the profusion of plazas and vehicles,” says Husnain Raza, who lives adjacent to the market.

“In excess of three decades ago, there used to be green fields all over the area of Satellite Town and a drive from the General Hospital junction to Pandora Chungi used to be quite memorable, with natural landscaping,” Saulat Abbas, an old resident of the area recollects.

“The evenings were very serene. Only the college boys ventured out to buy snacks. Today, residents find it in fact difficult to walk on the main road,’’ Qasim Hasan, another resident of the locality says.

“In the course of those days watching the environment was in reality a greatly enjoyable experience, it has changed all that. Even though the changed scenario has helped facilitate people a lot, but city’s charm has fallen by the wayside,” says Ibsaam Ali, who has also been residing in the vicinity for decades.