Miscalculation: Oil tanker fiasco creates mess for city

Oil started spilling from the vehicle when it hit the underpass

LAHORE: Traffic remained suspended on Canal Road for at least four hours when an oil tanker got stuck inside Waris Mir Underpass near Quid-i-Azam Campus of Punjab University on Sunday.

The tanker was carrying 50,000 litres of oil in it. When it hit the underpass, oil had started spilling from it. The incident occurred in the afternoon when driver of an oil tanker of Hascol Petroleum Ltd, ignoring the height limit and indication that heavy traffic was not allowed to pass through the underpasses, went ahead towards Waris Mir Underpass. Fore part of the tanker somehow managed to enter into the underpass but only few inches of the tanker’s body went inside the underpass and it got stuck. Ramming of the exterior of the oil tanker into underpass also damaged the structure. Plaster from many of its parts eroded and spread on roads. The driver tried to reverse the vehicle but failed. When the tanker stopped for a few minutes, queues of vehicle on Canal Road started piling up.

On information, the rescue teams and traffic officials rushed to the spot. They immediately cordoned off the area and blocked the traffic towards the underpass from Thokar Niaz Beg.

Canal Road, a main artery of the city, facilitates a huge vehicle flow from it daily. Blockade of the road led to massive traffic jams in the city. People remained stuck for hours due to bumper-to-bumper traffic. Honking of horns, snail-pace movement of the traffic and anxiety among the commuters was the order of the day.

A commuter Imtiaz Ahmad expressed his anger over the driver of the oil tanker saying that strict action should be taken against him for his negligence and ignorance of the traffic laws. “Many horrible accidents in which dozens of precious lives were lost have happened due to oil tankers. He has put not only his life in danger but also risked the lives of many others,” he remarked.

Sher Zaman, another commuter, said he had come from Okara to meet his relatives and had to return back home in the evening as he had to attend office on Monday. “This incident had disrupted all my plans. I am stuck and I have no idea what to do now,” he said.

Rescue and police teams deflated the tyres. This created a gap between underpass and the vehicle and the driver managed to reverse it in at least three to four hours.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2018.