Election side-effects: A bad day for commuters

Traffic in most areas remained slow owing to political meetings

LAHORE: Massive traffic jams were observed in the city on Friday on account of public meetings of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ahead of the October 11 by-poll in NA 122.

The PTI had held a procession at Qurtaba Chowk on Jail Roal and the PML-N at Doongi Ground in Samanabad.

Many commuters The Express Tribune spoke to said they it took them hours to reach their destinations. Those using public transport said they had suffered more because they were unable to take diversions like those travelling on their own vehicles.

Traffic police said they had deployed additional wardens and made a contingency traffic plan. Jail Road was blocked for traffic from the Canal Bank Road till Qurataba Chowk – the venue for the PTI meeting.



This resulted in disruption of traffic on The Mall, Ferozepur Road, Multan Road, Canal Bank Road, Bahawalpur Road, Lytton Road, Queen’s Road and Wahdat Road. Commuters also faced problems at Chowk Yatim Khana, Samanabad Mor and in Iqbal Town.

Rizwan Naseer, a resident of Khushab, said it took him more than three hours to reach Niazi Bus Terminal near Bund Road from Mozang.

“I work at a bakery on Mozang Road. I could not find public transport that could take me to the bus terminal. A motorcyclist fortunately offered me a ride. Still, it took three hours to reach there,” Naseer said.

Ammar Zia, a student at the Government College University, said it had taken him four hours to reach his home in Township. “My classes ended in the evening. I first went to The Mall but there was a huge rush of vehicles there.

A similar situation had developed on Lower Mall and Ferozepur Road. On a normal day, it takes less than an hour for me to reach home,” Zia said.

Ayesha, a student at Hailey College of Commerce, lives in Johar Town. She said her college bus had remained stuck for hours in front of the campus near Jain Mandir Chowk.

A spokesperson for Chief Traffic Police Officer (CTO) Tayyab Hafiz Cheema said 370 additional wardens had been deployed to control traffic on Friday. They were led by five DSPs and two SPs. He said traffic police had created diversions at several areas and tried to facilitate commuters.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2015.