RAWALPINDI, Jun 18 (APP):The festivities and celebrations on the second day of Eid ul Azha continue on Tuesday as people thronged recreational places across Rawalpindi division.
Rain also turned the weather pleasant in the twin cities, which was an added incentive for the people visiting parks and other public places.
Several picnic spots like, Ayub national park, Play Land, Allama Iqbal park, Family park Commercial markets Satellite Town, Jinnah park, Romi Park and other parks received huge number of the visitors.
Girls were seen swinging at the parks while children were screaming on merry-go-rounds and the adults were exuberant to see smiles on the faces of their children.
A large number of people were also seen travelling towards Murree Hills to enjoy Eid celebrations as the weather of Murree Hills has been very pleasant particularly on Eid days.
The parks in Rawalpindi were specially decorated to make them attractive for the visitors.
The families visiting the parks of the city complained that over charging, sale of substandard food items and non-availability of quality products are main cause of concern. The vendors took full benefit of the situation as the relevant authorities failed to control the quality and rates of the commodities rather there was no check and balance in that regard and the shopkeepers were given free hand.
The citizens demanded of the authorities to take action against the violators and those fleecing the tourists.
A visitor, Mushtaq said he went to Ayub Park for excursion as it was the best place to visit with family during Eid holidays.
“The food-items being offered at the canteen were tantamount to fleecing and the children were being robbed off their Eid is at different parts,” said Mushtaq.
A special control room had also been set up at Deputy Commissioner (DC) Office Rawalpindi which is working round the clock to cope with any emergency situation.
According to a Commissioner Office spokesman, Commissioner Rawalpindi Division, Engineer Aamir Khattak had directed the relevant departments particularly Police, City Traffic Police (CTP) and Rescue-1122 to remain alert during Eid ul Azha holidays to ensure security and provide maximum relief to the citizens.
The Commissioner had directed the relevant authorities to pay more attention to parks and other public places besides setting up special posts at various points by Rescue-1122 to avoid any untoward incident.
The residents celebrated Eid-ul-Azha with great religious zeal, fervour and festivity.
Hundreds of Eid congregations were held in Rawalpindi on Monday while people offered Eid prayer at mosques, Eidgahs, Imambargahs and other open areas amid tight security.
Special prayers were offered for the progress and prosperity of the country, unity of the Muslim Ummah, solution of their problems and liberation of Muslim territories, including Indian held Kashmir.
On the occasion, tight security arrangements were made by Rawalpindi police on the directives of City Police Officer (CPO) Syed Khalid Mehmood Hamdani. Over 3000 well-equipped policemen besides Elite force commandos and lady police were deputed outside the bazaars, shopping centers and sensitive public and private buildings in Rawalpindi.
Strict security measures were also adopted outside the Eid congregations, while police kept patrolling. No untoward incident reported from anywhere in the city.
City Traffic Police, following the instructions of Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Rawalpindi, Taimoor Khan also facilitated the citizens by smoothing traffic flow.
In Murree, the wardens also controlled traffic mess successfully.
Commissioner Rawalpindi Division Aamir Khattak and Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Hassan Waqar Cheema visited SOS Village and the Child Protection Bureau to share Eid joys with the children on Monday.
The commissioner congratulated the children by cutting Eid cake with them and distributing gifts among them.
The Child Protection Bureau and SOS Village organized special meals for the children to celebrate the occasion.
In the evening of Monday, first day of Eid ul Azha, people planned a number of programs. Some arranged BBQ parties at their homes while a number of families thronged towards public parks (Ayub Park, Zia Park, Jinnah Park, Nawaz Sharif Park, Lake View) and other resorts like Murree, Pir Sohawa, Daman-e-Koh, F-9 Park and Rawal Lake along with children and made tikkas and kebabs from various aromatic spices and lentils on coals.
The little children enjoyed and young girls enjoyed the swings and delicious food such as chana chat, gol gappay, burger, finger chips, pakoras, samosas and many other sweets.
Traffic remained off the road whereas taxi drivers minted money from the passengers as per their own will.
As the government announced three public holidays, tens of thousands of citizens also headed towards the hill resort Murree.
Because of heavy deployment of traffic wardens, the traffic situation remained under control in Murree, said a CTP spokesman.
He said traffic police had placed special pickets with squads to discourage one-wheeling.
He said the traffic situation in Murree remained under control due to applying special traffic plan prepared on the directives of CTO Taimoor Khan.
“A large number of vehicles entered Murree during Eid holidays and traffic police managed the situation despite having less space for parking,” he said.
Superintendent of Police, Saddar Nabeel Khokhar also visited Murree and reviewed the security and traffic arrangements.
The police spokesman informed that 700 cops were deployed to ensure security in Murree while 300 traffic wardens were regulating traffic.
