Handcarts make Jalalabad roads narrow, no room for pedestrians

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): Handcarts make the footpaths narrow and leave no room for pedestrians in Jalalabad city, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, residents say, urging the municipality to take measures in this regard.

Local residents say women also face problems while walking on roads encroached by handcart owners and there are many places where walking is not possible due to huge crowds.

On the other hand, Jalalabad municipality officials also say occupation of footpaths by handcart owners has caused them problems, but added places for the sellers have been determined in relevant areas and this problem will be solved soon.

Some residents of Jalalabad city told Pajhwok that stalls on footpaths were main reason behind congestion and clogging of footpaths.

Awal Khan, a resident of Jalalabad city, said he visited the third district to buy goods, but faced problems due to narrowed space.

He added handcarts had blocked footpaths on roads, with women and men facing difficulties in walking in front of shops. He said some handcars could be seen standing in the middle of the road, creating problems for motorists.  “The municipality should create an organized system for them”.

Another resident, Rafiullah, also complained about the problem and asked the municipality to build special places for handcart sellers in different areas of the city.

On the other hand, handcart owners also admit some people use their hand-carts in wrong places, but the majority of hand-cart owners stand in places marked for them by the municipality.

Shamsul Rahman, who sells fresh vegetables at the Talashi intersection of Jalalabad city, said there were even bigger crowds in this area in the past, but places had been determined for handcarts and the problem had been solved to some extent.

Jalalabad Municipality spokesman Bakhti Jan Murad also said stalls on footpaths were being removed.

“We are working to solve this problem, we conducted campaigns, specific areas have been chosen for them and some areas have been cleared.”

He said poverty and unemployment were biggest problems and that was why many people had started doing business on handcarts and due to this the number of stalls on footpaths had increased in the city.

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