Bus brouhaha: Roadblocks hit intercity traffic

Commuters suffer as public, private transporters remain off road; commerce largely unaffected

ISLAMABAD: Commuters in the twin cities had a harrowing time on Friday in the wake of clashes between the police and Awami Muslim League (AML) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protesters at Committee Chowk and Bani Gala.

The Metro Bus Service was suspended, forcing many intercity commuters to face difficulties. The Punjab Metro Bus Authority previously said that on average, 110,252 passengers commute between Rawalpindi and Islamabad on the line, mostly for work, and due to the suspension, many were unable to get to work on time, if at all. Public and private transport was unavailable from Naz Cinema to Marrir Chowk on Murree Road after hundreds of AML protesters gathering at Committee Chowk.

City administrators had also placed containers at different entry points in cantonment areas, but these were removed soon after by cantonment authorities.

The police had also closed down entry points at Murree Road, particularly between Marrir Chowk and Naz Cinema, and on Islamabad Expressway by placing containers as a preventative measure to stop the influx of attendees at the AML public meeting at Lal Haveli, which is located in the Raja Bazaar area.

Raja Bazaar is a major wholesale market in twin cities, but is usually closed on Friday, so there was no routine hustle and bustle in the area.

Though the number of public transporters on the road was low, traffic was running smoothly on other parts of Murree Road. Most public and private employees in Islamabad and Rawalpindi left their offices before 5pm, anticipating possible lockdowns in the twin cities.

Nadia Rafique, a banker, told The Express Tribune that she travel from Sixth Road to Bhara Kahu on public transport every day and they left work one hour earlier than usual because she expected road blocks along the way. She said they did not have any hassle travelling from Bhara Kahu to Sixth Road, but noted that there were very few vehicles available and many people faced difficulty finding seats on wagons. The business activities in most of Islamabad’s markets were normal.

“The number of shoppers was normal and there was panic among them,” said Chaudhry Aslam, a grocer in Sector H-9.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29^th, 2016.