LAHORE: Repeated traffic jams at main roads of Lahore have made the lives of motorists and pedestrians miserable while traffic wardens have failed to control the situation, Pakistan Today has learnt.
According to authorities, the much-delayed construction work at the Multan Road forces divergence of traffic to other roads, which caused jams. On the other hand, traffic wardens seemed helpless in controlling the situation.
Traffic Warden Abdul Rauf said that the Punjab government should take immediate steps for controlling the traffic mess, complete the construction work at the Multan Road and should extend the road across the canal for better managing the traffic. He said that massive traffic load was witnessed from 6:30pm to 8pm due to which traffic was diverted towards the Barkat Market causing a severe jam.
According to the Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (TEPA), the Multan Road faced the load of vehicles entering and existing from Lahore. Vehicles traveling to southern Punjab usually traveled on the Multan Road while vehicles coming from the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway also used the same route.
Talking to Pakistan Today, TEPA Chief Engineer Asrar Saeed blamed the NLC and the Punjab Communications and Works (C&W) Department for the delay in the reconstruction work of the Multan Road. The NLC was the project’s contractor while the C&W was sponsoring the project. Officials from both the departments were not available for comment.
Chief Traffic Officer Captain (r) Syed Ahmed Mohsin said that 50 percent of the traffic load would be reduced if the government completed the reconstruction work at the Multan Road. He said that the Ferozpur Road was a five lane road while the Campus Road was a two lane road. Mohsin said that as the traffic was diverted towards the Canal Road, a traffic jam was witnessed. He urged for repairing rough patches of the road, which caused traffic jams.
Citizen Moazzam Abbas expressed his reservations over the prolonged delay in the reconstruction work of the Multan Road and blamed the authorities for delaying the project for their personal gains. Another citizen Kashif Iqbal demanded the Lahore High Court (LHC) to take suo motu notice on the issue.