Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Traffic Police have issued a traffic management plan related to the Pakistan Day parade in the capital for Friday.

According to the police, heavy traffic will be barred from entering the capital from midnight until 2pm today (Tuesday), tomorrow (Wednesday) and Friday.

Moreover, on the three days mentioned above, the Faizabad section of Islamabad Expressway will be closed for all kinds of traffic from 2pm to 5pm.

Additionally, on the said dates, the highway sections from Khanna Pul to Faizabad and Zero Point to Faizabad, and Murree Road from Rawal Dam Chowk to Faizabad will be closed for traffic from 2pm-5pm.

Residents and visitors have been advised to take alternative routes.

The police have said that light traffic coming in from Lahore on the GT Road will be diverted towards Rawalpindi from the Rawat T-Chowk and not be allowed to get on the Islamabad highway.

Similarly, the traffic coming to Islamabad from the airport in Rawalpindi will be diverted from Khanna Pul towards Lehtrar Road and Park Road from where they will be able to get on the Kashmir Highway via Rawal Dam Chowk.

For commuters heading towards the airport from Islamabad, the 9th Avenue, Murree Road and Rawal Road will be open. Commuters coming from the motorway will be able to go to Murree via the Kashmir Highway.

A three-day ban, from Wednesday to Friday, has also been placed on pillion riding in the city.

A notification, imposing Section 144 in the federal capital, states that there will be a complete ban on pillion riding on the above-mentioned dates, adding that the prohibition does not apply to women, children and the elderly.

On March 12, the timings for flights arriving or departing from Islamabad until March 23 were revised to enable the Pakistan Air Force jets to rehearse for the parade.

Pakistan International Airlines spokesperson said Islamabad’s airspace will remain closed from 8am to 12:40pm and 2:30pm to 4pm.

Pakistan Day commemorates the passing of Lahore Resolution, under which a separate nation for the Muslims of the British Indian empire demanded by Muslim League was passed on March 23, 1940.

A special feature of last year’s parade was the participation of the People’s Liberation Army of China, Saudi Special Force contingent and Turkish Janissary Military band.

Published in Daily Times, March 20^th 2018.