Traffic plan for Chehlum issued

Main mourning procession will begin from Nishtar Park today

KARACHI/SUKKUR: The Chehlum procession will be carried out from Nishtar Park to Hussainian Iranian Imambargah Kharadar today, according to a press statement issued by the Karachi traffic police.

"It is mandatory for the participants of the procession to get stickers to be displayed on the windscreens of their vehicles," said the press statement. The procession will begin at 1pm from Nishtar Park, which will be joined by another procession from Martin Road Imambargah at around 9am.

The route of the main procession will be from Nishtar Park, passing through Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto Road, Father Jaminis Road, Mehfil-e-Shah-e-Khurasan, MA Jinnah Road and Preedy Street. The procession will then turn back to MA Jinnah Road, towards Bolton Market, Bombay Bazar, Kharadar and will finally culminate at Hussainian Iranian Imambargah in Kharadar.

As soon as the procession will start from Nishtar Park, all vehicular traffic coming from the city side will be diverted towards Soldier Bazaar Road from the junction of MA Jinnah Road and the Dr Dawood Pota Road.

All kind of traffic coming from Nazimabad side will be diverted towards Nishtar Road and towards Zoological Garden to reach their destinations.

Meanwhile, traffic coming from the Liaquatabad side will be diverted from Dak Khana's left side towards Altaf Ali Bralvi Road, University Road, Jail Chowrangi Flyover, PPP Chowrangi, Dada Bhoy Noorji Road, Kashmir Road, Society Light Signal, Sharae Quaideen, Sharae Faisal, Lucky Star, Sarwar Shaheed Road, Fawara Chowk, Shaheen Complex, II Chundrigar Road and Tower.

The traffic coming from Stadium Road side will proceed through New MA Jinnah Road. These vehicles will be diverted at Dada Bhoy Noorji Road towards Kashmir Road, Society Light Signal and Sharae Quaideen to Sharae Faisal.

On the other hand, the traffic coming from Superhighway side will be diverted from Liaquatabad No 10 towards Nazimabad's No 2 Chowrangi and will proceed to Mauripur Road via Habib Bank Chowk, Estate Avenue Road and Sher Shah.

For the traffic coming from the National Highway side, a route will be provided through Rashid Minhas Road, Stadium Road, Sir Shah Suleman Road, Hassan Square, Liaquatabad No 10, Nazimabad Chowrangi No 2, Habib Bank, Estate Avenue Road, Sher Shah and Mauripur Road.

No traffic will be permitted to proceed towards the route of the procession from Gurumandir roundabout. Vehicles will be diverted towards Bahadur Yar Jang Road and Khan Bahadur Naqi Muhammad Khan Road. Vehicles will not be permitted under any circumstances to proceed along Soldier Bazar Road from the junction of Khan Bahadur Naqi Muhammad Khan Road and Bahadur Yar Jan Road.

No vehicular traffic coming towards Old Exhibition via Sharae Quaideen, except for those vehicles arriving for the procession with stickers on their windscreens that have been issued from traffic police, will be allowed to proceed from the roundabout of Society Office Light Signal. All the traffic going towards Saddar will not be permitted to proceed towards Empress Market from the junction of Preedy Street and MA Jinnah Road, Court Road Chowk and Fresco Chowk, when the head of the procession will reach near the crossing of MA Jinnah Road.

No vehicles will be permitted to park along the route of the procession and the route will be kept clear from all kinds of parking and other obstructions.

Chehlum preparations in Sukkur

Sukkur DIG Captain (retd) Feroze Shah held a meeting with the SSPs of Sukkur, Khairpur and Ghotki on Sunday. The total number of processions, which will be taken out today and tomorrow, is 138 while the number of majalis is 135. Around 6,447 policemen, 850 Rangers personnel, along with 40 vehicles, have been deployed throughout the range to avert any untoward incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2016.