The public transportation system of the provincial capital was in a state of paralysis on Friday, especially after 11am, owing to the protest rally called by Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif.
The roads of the city wore a deserted look as the time for the rally approached. People were seen waiting endlessly at bus stops but no buses were seen transporting commuters. Nimra Naseer, a student of Gulberg College, while standing at a bus stop in Gulberg, said, “I have been waiting for over two hours but no bus has passed from here. I did not know public transport would be suspended because of the rally today, else I would have stayed home.” She said the government should have announced that the bus service was to be suspended on Friday, so that she, and many others like her, could have made alternate arrangements. Yousaf, standing at a bus stop on Mall Road, said he had no idea that the public transport system would be in such disarray. “I knew that the transportation system was going to be disturbed, but I didn’t know that it would be till this extent,” Yousaf said.
Meanwhile, public buses were seen transporting the rally participants. “How can public transport be used to pander to the agenda a political party?” Ammar, a student of NCA who was standing near the Town Hall Area where buses came to drop the rally participants, asked. Public buses were also used to block off roads and cordon off the rally area.
Despite a heavy influx of traffic from all sides of the city, no major traffic jams were seen. Traffic mostly flowed in a smooth manner throughout the day, expect for a slight mess which was created as the rally participants began dispersing. City Traffic Police successfully managed arrangements to divert traffic onto alternative routes during the timings of the rally. Around 500 traffic wardens remained deputed at and around the route of the rally to divert traffic in order to avert traffic jams.