Citizens of Karachi lose as ANP wins in Senate

Awami National Party (ANP) Sindh President Shahi Syed’s win in the Senate elections proved to be a cause of annoyance for Karachi’s residents on Monday, as thousands of citizens were stuck for hours in a massive traffic gridlock on the Shahrah-e-Faisal. The metropolitan was subjected to the worst-ever traffic jam due to ANP activists celebrating the party becoming the third major party in the Senate. Thousands of ANP workers gathered at the Shahrah-e-Faisal to welcome the party’s Sindh president Shahi Syed back to the metropolis after his win.
Several camps were set up along the Shahrah-e-Faisal, and while the activists danced at this significant artery, the road was blocked for all vehicular traffic, resulting in a massive gridlock. The citizens were inconvenienced the most when their vehicles stuck in the traffic gridlock ran out of fuel and the filling stations at the Shahrah-e-Faisal were forcibly closed.
Later, after the ANP rally moved out, personnel of the traffic police removed the fuel-less vehicles from the road. Besides, shops and markets along the Shahrah-e-Faisal were also forcibly closed in the evening. A large number of ANP workers on motorcycles, cars and buses reached the Jinnah International Airport, creating many hurdles for the travellers.
All the roads leading to the airport were chocked because of the large number of vehicles stuck in the traffic gridlock. Later, ANP activists arrived at the Shahrah-e-Faisal with their party’s winning provincial president Shahi Syed. The activists blocked the Shahrah-e-Faisal completely for all vehicular traffic when Syed arrived at the Karachi airport. Traffic from and to the II Chundrigar Road, DHA, Clifton, Saddar, Malir and Quaidabad was blocked, and transporters were forced to use linking roads to reach their destinations.
Ghulam Qadir, a resident of Model Colony who was stuck in the traffic jam, said he was returning home from his office located at the II Chundrigar Road, but he got stuck in the traffic. “I need to get home as soon as possible. I have to take my two-year-old son to the hospital for check-up because he has been burning with fever for the past two days. I have an appointment with the doctor, but if I can’t reach the hospital on time, my son’s check-up won’t be possible,” said Qadir.
Another citizen Hammad Ali, who works at a pharmaceutical company in Quaidabad as a quality controller and lives in PECHS, said, “I was returning home from work when my car ran out of fuel. What could I do? The CNG stations on the Shahrah-e-Faisal were closed.”