LAHORE: The intermittent rain on Monday which brought the mercury down also paralyzed the normal life in the provincial capital as severe traffic jams were observed in the city.
The intermittent rain which started on Sunday night and continued throughout Monday, added to the sufferings of the citizens as massive traffic jams were observed on almost all the major roads of the city. The situation caused problems for the commuters who remained stuck in the traffic jams for hours.
Rainfall was observed in all parts of the city including Airport, Mall Road, Ferozpur Road, Jail Road, Lakshmi Chowk, Garden Town, Gulberg, Johar Town, Samanabad, Defence and Wapda Town. Traffic police in the provincial capital also failed to keep smooth traffic flow in the city.
The traffic police claimed in a statement that it worked efficiently to ensure smooth traffic flow on roads by creating diversions on different points. The ground reality, however, exposed the tall claims of traffic officials.
The situation of traffic gridlock was observed to be worst at Orange Line Metro Train route and its adjacent areas where construction work become the reason of sufferings of commuters, with muddy pathways further halting the traffic flow.
Severe traffic congestion was observed near Shimla Pahari area as hundreds of motorists remained stuck on different roads for hours. The same traffic mess was witnessed on Railways Station, Davis Road, Lakshmi Chowk, Abbot Road, McLeod Road and other adjoining arteries where motorists had to suffer for hours due to the traffic jam.
Long queues of vehicles could be seen on Davis Road, Empress Road, Edgerton Road and Queen Mary College Road. Several motorists tried to use alternate roads and streets of the residential areas but they got trapped in the bumper-to-bumper traffic as they were already jammed with hundreds of vehicles.
The low lying areas where rainwater had accumulated included Tajpura Scheme, Lakshmi Chowk, Misri Shah, Wasanpura, Multan Road, Chauburji, Mozang Chungi, Muslim Town, Samanabad, Gulberg, New Garden Town, Township, Lahore Railway Station, Lahore General Hospital, Peco Road, Shahdara, and Bhati Gate.
Furthermore, a similar situation was observed at Kashmir Road, Chowk Nakhuda, Aziz Road, Ek Moria Pul, Do Moria Pul, Sheranwala Gate, Garhi Shahu, Begumpura, UET, Mughalpura, Shalimar Link Road, Sandha, Shahjamal, Ichhra, Islampura and GPO Chowk on The Mall, along with a few areas of Defence, Model Town and Johar Town.
Commercial activities in the city came to a stop as the major shopping centres of the city including Mall Road, Hall Road, Rang Mahal, Ichra Bazar, Shahalam Market, Liberty, Anarkali, Brandreth Road and Lakshmi Chowk came to a halt.
On the other hand, many families rushed to the public parks to enjoy the first winter rain while long queues were witnessed outside the famous eateries. Large groups of families were spotted celebrating the weather at Jillani Park enjoying the exquisite flower exhibition.
Rescue sources told Pakistan Today that no big untoward incident due to rain took place on Monday, however, road accidents resulting in minor injuries were reported.
The recent spell also lashed rains in other cities of the Punjab including Kasur, Shiekhupura, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Narowal, Faisalabad and Sahiwal.
According to Met office, recent rain in Lahore and other parts of Punjab and country was a part of winter spell which entered into Pakistan last week. Met has also forecasted that rains will continue until Wednesday.