Islamabad's G-10 Women's Bazaar Demolished to Make Way for Eleventh Avenue Project

The Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) has demolished the temporary Women's Bazaar in G-10, removing a market that had stood on a green belt along the planned route of the Eleventh Avenue project for more than five years but was never fully operational. The civic body issued an official notification on Wednesday cancelling the market to clear the way for the major road development scheme.

The bazaar was announced in September 2021 during the tenure of the then interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed under the previous PTI-led government. Construction was completed in February 2022 by the MCI's Sports Directorate at a cost estimated at around Rs. 70 million. The facility was originally intended to empower women by giving them dedicated commercial spaces to launch businesses and sell their products.

However, the market struggled from the outset. According to reports, it was operational for only a single day and, despite the passage of more than five years, failed to attract sustained participation from women vendors or customers. It never developed into a functioning commercial centre.

A central planning flaw contributed to its fate: the bazaar was built directly over the proposed right-of-way for Eleventh Avenue, the planned road infrastructure project. Its location therefore became an obstacle to the scheme's implementation, and officials describe the removal as necessary to facilitate construction and support the enforcement of Islamabad's master plan.

Clearing the site is expected to open up the designated construction area and allow progress on Eleventh Avenue, which authorities say will help ease traffic congestion in the federal capital. The demolition also highlights long-running concerns about project planning in the capital, where infrastructure has at times been approved on land later earmarked for major road corridors.