Traffic jam: Qayyumabad Chowrangi chokes for five hours

Traffic suspended due to workers' protest, closure of crossing road

KARACHI: Traffic remained at a halt on Monday at Qayyumabad Chowrangi for nearly five hours, following the protest at Gold Mark Shopping Mall in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Phase I and the closure of Korangi Crossing Road as the Malir River overflowed.

"Gold Mark shopkeepers were protesting against the fire that engulfed the mall last week, burning 200 shops to ashes overnight," said traffic police official Muhammad Qasim. Diversions were arranged from Akhtar Colony to Khayaban-e-Jami and Punjab Colony towards Defense Mor, he added.

Gold Mark, one of the main attractions for residents of DHA, Clifton and Korangi, houses 450 shops, not to mention the stalls on the premises selling jewelry, clothes, cosmetics and other items. The financial losses and the exact cause of the fire have yet to be ascertained. However, the market association's estimate of the loss is around Rs0.26 billion.

"The government's inefficiency to deal with the fire caused us [the shopkeepers] such a huge financial loss and we should be compensated," said Sher Khan, a member of one of Gold Mark's workers' associations. Pointing at the huge billboard on the roof of the mall, Khan said that the billboard was the cause of the fire and the management should be inquired about it.

Overflowing river

Another reason for the traffic jam was the closure of the Korangi Crossing Road over the Malir River that was flooded from rainwater.

The water level rose, inundating the road constructed over the river bed, said Qasim, the traffic cop, adding that there were 20 pipes beneath the road through which the water was supposed to pass but most of them failed.

Since the pipes were choked due to lack of cleaning before the monsoon, the water came on the road, which is why the traffic was diverted towards the Jam Sadiq Bridge which itself is very narrow, shared Qasim.

Meanwhile, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's senior director municipal services Masood Alam said that the inundated passage is already inside the bed of the Malir River which gets flooded whenever it rains.

"That is a temporary road constructed to facilitate traffic moving towards the Korangi Crossing," said Alam, adding that the pipes under the road can never bear the flow of water during rain.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2016.