An epic traffic mess was witnessed on Thursday, March 26th in Lahore when a large number of farmers under the banner of the Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI ) protested at Thokar Niaz Baig on Multan Road because police stopped them from entering the city where, according to their plan, they wanted to stage a rally at Minar-e-Pakistan. And this resulted in the blockade at The Mall, Canal Road, Jail Road, Ferozepur Road and other adjoining routes that disrupted the traffic badly in the capital city of Punjab. Roads were jammed with bumper to bumper traffic. Vehicles carrying goods and edibles also could not enter the city. Commuters, bus riders as well as motorists were stuck on the roads, unable to reach their destinations and workplaces. Traffic wardens were absent from the major intersections, which made the situation worse. People were made to sweat in the scorching heat of summer and this raised their tempers too as minor clashes were witnessed among the stuck and frustrated commuters.Whenever a sit-in or protest is held, citizens have to face traffic jams because we lack comprehensive planning for the streamlined flow of traffic. There is an absence of a contingency plan too by the city traffic police. Our administration has failed to meet our current transportation needs and have not made much progress in this regard. Traffic is a mess and getting worse. Our population keeps growing and our quality of life is going down because of rush-hour gridlocks. There was a surge in the number of vehicles on the roads in the past decade due to the introduction of leasing and this has choked the city. In routine too, people are forced to move at a snail’s pace at busy junctures of the city such as Anarkali and GPO Chowk. It seems the Punjab government is unable to comprehend urban management as widening of roads and construction of underpasses and flyovers can only meet the needs of the privileged class of our society that constitutes just seven percent of the city’s population who have their own vehicles. Lack of an adequate mass transit system is forcing the citizens to face congestion. Something has to be done to address the growing strangulation of vehicles on the roads and to avoid the obstructions in the flow of traffic. An efficient and affordable mass transport system is required for the smooth circulation of traffic on the roads. A light rail system integrated with branch lines and bus terminals would be most helpful for reducing the traffic pressure on the roads as it is working effectively in major cities of the world. It is our turn to plan an efficient mass transit system to meet the needs of an expanding city. If we don’t wake up now, the traffic mess will overwhelm us in the near future and bring to a grinding halt the functioning of the city. *