Daily Times

The ‘Queen of the Mountains’ Murree which is the most famous hill station of Punjab attracted a large number of tourists during Eid-ul-Azha holidays particularly on Friday and Saturday as the citizens reached Murree from different areas to enjoy the pleasant weather. This year, three Eid holidays (June 28 to 30) were announced by the government on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha with two weekly offs, Saturday and Sunday, which provided a great recreational opportunity for the citizens.

On the first day of Eid, people remained busy in greeting relatives, friends and near and dear ones, and rushed to different parks, Murree, Ayubia, Nathigali and Patriata Chair Lift on second and third day of Eid to enjoy the Eid festivity.

Murree Road on Friday and Saturday remained jam packed with the stream of vehicles after tourists particularly from twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and other adjoining areas thronged the Murree, Ayubia and Nathia Gali hill stations to beat the heat and enjoy the Eid vacations. From Dhokri Chowk to Bhara Kahu and Chatter Park, the road was jam-packed with vehicles moving at snails’ pace. Rawalpindi district administration had finalized all the arrangements to ensure the security of the visitors and facilitate them particularly during Eid ul Azha holidays. According to a police administration spokesman, City Police Officer (CPO) Rawalpindi Syed Khalid Mehmood Hamdani urged the tourists to observe traffic rules on the roads of Murree to avoid traffic mess and any untoward incidents during Eid-ul-Azha holidays.

The spokesman informed that special teams had been formed to facilitate the tourists, adding, parking of the vehicles was not allowed outside the parking areas. There was a complete ban on illegal parking in Murree. “The beautiful climate of Murree during summer attracts a large number of tourists so motorists face traffic congestion,” he said adding that traffic moves slower due to heavy traffic load as compared to the normal days.

He said, the CPO had advised the tourists to avoid wrong parking, double lines, speeding and taking selfies in the middle of the roads. He said, a special plan had been formulated for Murree under which over 1000 personnel including over 700 cops and over 285 CTP officials were performing their duties to facilitate the visitors. The Jawans of Murree Tourism Police were also present at different points for the convenience and protection of the tourists, he added. Rawalpindi district administration, district police and CTP on the directives of Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi had taken solid steps to ease traffic flow and facilitate tourists in Murree.

The officers of the district administration, district police and CTP were present in the field to monitor the situation. All possible steps were being taken to ease traffic flow and ensure smooth flow of traffic on the roads of Murree, he added.

Senior police officers including SSP Operations, Rawalpindi, SP Saddar, SDPO Murree, DSP Traffic Murree remained present in Murree and reviewed all the arrangements. SSP Operations Muhammad Amir Khan Niazi visited different areas and checked all the arrangements. Due to solid steps taken by the authorities concerned, traffic flow was totally under control in Murree, he added. He said that Murree has parking space for only 3500 vehicles and urged the tourists to observe traffic rules to avoid traffic mess or any untoward incident during Eid-ul-Azha holidays.

The spokesman said that Rawalpindi district police, City Traffic Police and Murree tourism police were working round the clock to facilitate the tourists, adding, the visitors in case of any emergency could contact Police Helpline 15 or Murree Tourism Police Helpline 1757. Round the clock monitoring of all the arrangements was being ensured through a modern system at Police Headquarters Command and Control Center besides keeping an eye on all the areas through a control room set up at Murree, he added.

Inspector General of Police Punjab had also directed the officers to ensure foolproof security arrangements utilizing all available resources besides, taking all possible steps to ease traffic flow for facilitating the tourists in Murree.