A massive gridlock was seen after a heavy monsoon rain lashed parts of the city on Monday, inundating major thoroughfares and low-lying areas due to poor drainage system.
Long queues of vehicles were seen till late in the evening on Davis Road, Garhi Shahu, Gulberg and Mall Road after a heavy downpour battered Muslim Town, Icchra, Anarkali, Mozang, Shadbagh and other parts of the city.
According to the Met Office, Lahore received 33 mm rain, overall.
Poor drainage system and ongoing construction work on the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project were cited as the reasons behind the worst traffic jam, as hundreds of commuters were seen stranded with their vehicles stuck in gridlock on water-logged roads.
It may be mentioned that the ongoing construction work on Orange Line Metro Train has already caused traffic woes and Monday’s rain further intensified the misery of commuters.
Malik Mubashar, a resident of Garhi Shahu, told this scribe that the ongoing construction work on OLMT had caused several problems and these problems intensified when it rained. “Whenever it rains hundreds of houses in Garhi Shahu area are inundated but our elected representatives do nothing for uplift of the area,” he lamented. According to Mubashar, many people have lost their lives since the start of the OLMT project and the toll is still climbing.
Frequent electricity failures have become a regular feature of the areas where construction work on the project is in progress.
Muhammad Naeem Akhtar, who was looking for a mechanic to get his broken-down motorbike fixed, told Pakistan Today that “Tyre puncture and electric problems with motorbikes are a routine matter in rain. It becomes all the more difficult to find a mechanic during heavy rains,” said who was standing near GPO Chowk.
“Traffic flow remains slow in rain which causes long queues of vehicles,” he said, adding, “There must be a rigorous mechanism in monsoon period for smooth passage of traffic through important roads.”
Moreover, electricity breakdown was also observed in some parts of the city including Davis Road, Shalimar Town, Garhi Shahu and Shahdara due to tripping of power feeders, prompting protests.
Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) Vice Chairman Chaudhry Shahbaz Ahmad visited the Shadbagh Disposal Station to supervise drainage works. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, isolated rain is expected during the next 24 hours in various parts of Lahore, Faisalabad and Gujranwala divisions.
