Islamabad Women’s Bazar Removed for Eleventh Avenue
The Islamabad women’s bazar in G-10 has been removed by the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) to clear the way for the Eleventh Avenue project. The market stood on a green belt along the route of the planned road.
The MCI issued an official notification on Wednesday cancelling the market, and permanently closed the G-10 weekly bazaar on the same stretch of land. Both fell within the right of way of the proposed Eleventh Avenue.
Officials said the removal would let road construction proceed, carry out the master plan and ease traffic. Work to take down the structures has begun. Dawn reported the closures on Wednesday.
Why the Islamabad women’s bazar was removed
The women’s bazaar was announced in September 2021 by then interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government’s tenure. The idea was to give women dedicated commercial spaces to run businesses and sell their products.
Construction was completed in February 2022 by the MCI’s Sports Directorate, at a cost of about Rs70 million to Rs70.8 million. The market had 98 stalls, two tuck shops, a children’s play area and seven washrooms.
But the market never worked as planned. It remained largely abandoned for more than five years, was open for business for only one day by most accounts, and never attracted sustained participation from women vendors or customers.
The core problem was its location: the market had been built directly over the proposed right of way of Eleventh Avenue, so its removal clears the construction area.
A market that never opened
The failure was flagged in parliament long before the removal. MNA Shagufta Jumani raised it in the National Assembly, and the interior ministry replied in writing that the bazaar had been set up without planning or a feasibility study.
The ministry told the house the bazaar stood on the right of way of Eleventh Avenue, which was why it had never been made functional. The rent for the stalls had never been fixed, and the market had been built by the MCI’s sports directorate rather than the department that should have handled it.
The CDA’s Development Working Party cleared Eleventh Avenue in September, and the PC-I for the road is worth Rs24.5 billion. The road will stretch from Margalla Avenue to Karnal Sher Khan Road.
What happens to Eleventh Avenue now
With the bazaars closed, the way is clear for the road’s construction. The MCI has not yet announced an alternative site for either market. That leaves the women vendors the bazaar was built for without a place to trade, and the Sunday bazaar’s stallholders without a pitch.
The removal fits a wider enforcement drive. The CDA launched an anti-encroachment operation at the Sunday Bazaar in sectors G-10 and G-11 on Wednesday, removing more than a dozen structures after complaints that stallholders had spread beyond the designated area onto footpaths and green belts.
It is part of a city-wide campaign against illegal construction in G-6, G-7, G-10, G-11, Sabzi Mandi and Bhara Kahu.
A promise of a new site, still unkept
When lawmakers were told in June 2023 that the market would be built at a new site, the government said a study was under way, funds had been arranged, and the bazaar would be set up properly and made functional soon.
Three years on, that promise has not been kept. The old market has now been removed, and no new site has been named. The Rs70 million spent on a market that traded for a single day stands as a record of a project planned without a feasibility study, built in the wrong place, and left empty.
Islamabad’s local government polls are due soon, with the ECP issuing a full schedule for Islamabad LG polls on December 20, and the ECP has also ordered a fresh schedule for Islamabad local government polls in a separate order. The city’s heritage sites have fared better: the Akbari Gate at Lahore Fort was restored after decades. The prime minister has also ordered a polio eradication plan as cases reach nine.
Frequently asked questions
Why was the G-10 women’s bazaar removed?
The Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad removed it because it stood on the right of way of the planned Eleventh Avenue road project, and its removal clears the land for construction.
When was the women’s bazaar built, and at what cost?
It was announced in September 2021 and completed in February 2022, at a cost of about Rs70 million to Rs70.8 million.
Did the bazaar ever operate?
Barely. It remained largely non-functional for more than five years and was reportedly open for business for only one day.
Was anything else closed?
Yes. The MCI also permanently closed the G-10 weekly (Sunday) bazaar, which operated on the same stretch of land within the road’s right of way.
Has an alternative site been announced?
No. Officials said the process of removing structures has begun, but the MCI has not yet announced an alternative site for either bazaar.
