Inconvenienced: Demos disrupt traffic

LAHORE: Two demonstrations and construction work for infrastructure projects disrupted traffic at several major roads of the city on Monday. Traffic moved slowly on roads in the vicinity of the Lahore Press Club as scores of people gathered there to rally in support of Mumtaz Qadri. Traffic jams were reported from The Mall, Davis Road, Canal Road, Allama Iqbal Road and Abbot Road. Traffic was suspended on Gulberg’s Main Boulevard and some adjacent roads as people gathered at the Liberty Roundabout to mark the fifth death anniversary of Salmaan Taseer. Commuters complained that no wardens were in sight to manage the traffic. Umar Zumran, a Qila Gujjar Singh resident, said it took him over an hour to cover less than a kilomtere from Lakshmi Chowk from the Lahore Hotel. He said he was stuck in a traffic jam at Lakshmi Chowk for another hour. Some wardens said they were trying their best to maintain a steady flow of traffic. They said diversions had been placed at regular intervals to lead the traffic away from the venue of demonstrations.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2016.