LAHORE: The citizens on Wednesday witnessed massive traffic jams throughout the day due to protests and other activities.
The people faced immense problems in reaching their destinations, and when opted for alternative routes, they again ended up stuck in choked roads.
It seemed that the city traffic police completely failed to maintain the traffic flow. People from all walks of life demanded that the provincial government took notice of the traffic jams that caused severe hardship to the common man.
Fuel worth millions of rupees was burnt as thousands of vehicles were stuck in traffic jams due to protests in the city.
Poor management on part of the traffic police, road works, bad civic sense and different ongoing projects on the main roads were to be blamed for this wastage of black gold and precious time of the commuters.
Operations Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Dr Haider Ashraf and Chief Traffic Office (CTO) Ahmad Mubeen said that more than three thousands police officials performed security and traffic duties on important city roads due to the protests held by some religious groups on The Mall, and another rally arranged from Kalma Chowk to Liberty Roundabout.
The DIG (operations) said that important roads had been blocked by placing heavy containers near New Anarkali, Siddiq Trade Center, Liberty Roundabout, Firdous Market, Hussain Chowk and other places due to security reasons.
He added that the police always protect the lives and property of innocent citizens and did not allow anyone to create hurdles or damage any public or private property. He said that the police also arrested several persons near Kalma Chowk for trying to create panic among the citizens. He said that the overall situation remained under control, but had to face minor problems due to blockage of roads.
The traders of Main Boulevard, MM Alam Road and its surrounding areas kept the shutters of their shops down, fearing that extremists might attack them.
Meanwhile, traffic on and in areas around The Mall, Jail Road, MM Alam Road, Cantonment, Davis Road, Allama Iqbal Road, GT Road, GPO Chowk, Lakshmi Chowk, Mcleod Road, Empress Road, Abbot Road, Garhi Shahu, Cooper Road, Lower Mall, Wahdat Road, Ferozepur Road and its linking arteries remained completely choked for many hours, frustrating the commuters.
The traffic police also failed to maintain the smooth flow of traffic and facilitate citizens who were stuck in traffic due to construction work in many areas and protest demonstrations across the city.
In this situation, traffic burden increased on alternative routes, creating more problems for the citizens.
Ambulances carrying patients also remained stuck in traffic jam, and just like other road users, they had to wait for hours to move from one place to another.
Talking to Daily Times, commuters said that the traffic police should have devised a diversion plan to facilitate the citizens. They strongly criticised the traffic wardens over their absence from many intersections during peak timings, especially in areas where different groups held protests.
Several commuters complained that besides of wastage time, the traffic mess also caused economic loss to them in terms of costly fuel.