Traffic remained blocked on most roads of the city on Monday, due to the widening of the Canal Road; IJT’s march on Ferozpur Road, where a flyover is currently under construction; and lastly, a murder-suicide on Jail Road outside Kinnaird College. As usual, traffic police were not up to the task and had no plan in place to restore order to the roads. As a result, traffic remained at a deadlock throughout the day. The traffic jam occurred after IJT took out a rally on Ferozpur Road to mark the conclusion of their three-day long convention. To facilitate the IJT, traffic police blocked Ferozpur Road from Muslim Town Mor to Ichara, diverting traffic onto other roads. Moroever, traffic police cordoned off the road from Punjab University Quaid-e- Azam campus to Ichra, due to Umeed March. The Canal Road, already narrowed down due to construction, suffered the major load of traffic as a result of this diversion.
Jail Road remained blocked due to a double murder outside kinnaird College. Traffic was at a standstill from the entrance to the exit of Jail Road. Traffic bottlenecks were thus observed on Canal Road, Jail Road, Shadman Road and their various linking arteries. All vehicles, including ambulances, were stuck in traffic for hours. Though traffic jams are a permanent feature of the city, the IJT Umeed march and the double murder made an already bad situation worse.
Commuters were left high and dry, cursing the traffic police for their mismanagement. As a last resort, drivers and conductors of public and private transport were forced to control the traffic themselves. The only sound on the roads was of horns being honked impatiently, while many commuters had to park their vehicles miles away from their destinations, owing to the blocked roads. Citizens Shahid, Umar, Zahid and many others said all barriers from main roads and arteries should be removed to ensure the smooth flow of traffic. They had been stuck in traffic for several hours. They said traffic police should take all possible steps to regulate the flow of traffic on the roads. Many roads in city, including Canal Road, Multan Road, Allama Iqbal Road and Ravi Road have been dug up at different places for widening. Pakistan Today tried contacting City Traffic Police Officer Ahmed Mobeen for comments on the situation; however, his cell phone remained busy.
The mess that is traffic management in Lahore
