Rawalpindi’s Commercial Market Is a Nightmare Right Now, But Dec 30 Could Change Everything

You know the feeling. You just want to buy shoes or grab biryani in Commercial Market, Satellite Town. Instead, you spend two hours stuck behind a rickshaw while someone digs a trench right in front of your car.

Roads torn up. Overhead cables hanging like spider webs. Dust everywhere. People shouting.

That’s been daily life for months.

But the government just drew a hard line: all electricity, gas, and telephone cables must go underground by December 30. No more extensions.

The Rs300 Million Plan Everyone Wants (But Few Believe Will Happen On Time)

The Punjab government is spending Rs300 million to turn the whole market into a proper car-free pedestrian zone.

No cars are parked in the middle of the road. No bikes weaving through crowds. Just wide walkways, benches, lights, plants, the works.

It’s supposed to look like a modern bazaar you’d actually enjoy visiting with family after Maghrib.

The only thing stopping it? Utility companies are moving at a snail's pace. IESCO, PTCL, SNGPL, everyone is pointing fingers while traders lose business and residents lose their minds.

That’s why authorities in Rawalpindi and Islamabad finally said enough. December 30 is the drop-dead date for cable work.

Islamabad’s Blue Area Is Getting It Right

While Rawalpindi suffers, CDA quietly started their own project – and it already looks promising.

Rs240 million to turn the stretch from Savour Foods to Khyber Plaza into Islamabad’s first real car-free pedestrian street.

What’s coming:

• Food street with proper seating

• Huge digital screens

• Electric carts for aunties and kids

• Actual organised parking, so no one double-parks on the main road

• Clean walkways with shade and plants

They started work a couple of weeks ago and say it’ll be ready in 45 days. If they pull it off, they’ll expand it to other sectors.

Same Deadline, Different Vibes

Both cities have the same Dec 30 deadline for underground cables.

Rawalpindi feels like a punishment right now.

Islamabad feels like something good is actually coming.

The Real Talk

We’ve heard “next month” a hundred times. Everyone is tired of broken promises and half-finished roads.

But this time they’re saying no more delays, no more excuses. Utility bosses have been warned.

If they finish the cables by December 30, both projects can properly start the beautification phase.

The Commercial Market could become the place people drive TO, not through.

Blue Area could finally have a spot that feels like a proper capital city.

One month left.

Let’s see if they actually mean it this time.

Because people can’t take another missed deadline.For more updates, visit DrivePK.com