Parade security: Commuters stuck in jams as Faizabad remains shut

Students get late for matric exam due to snarl-ups; ban on tankers leads to fuel shortage in some areas

ISLAMABAD: Thousands of commuters spent several hours on the roads of the capital on Monday, stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic owing to the closure of the Islamabad Expressway from Zero Point to Khanna Pul.

The highway, as well as IJP Road and Murree Road around Faizabad, were shut down early in the morning on Monday as troops rehearsed for the annual Pakistan Day parade at the Shakarparian parade ground.

The interchange, as per a government announcement, will also remain shut from 5am to 2pm on Wednesday, as well as on March 23, when the joint staff parade will be held.

Though traffic police officers diverted vehicles onto alternative routes at Koral and Khanna, pretty soon these routes too miles-long snarl-ups could be witnessed on almost all the alternate routes such as Lehtrar Road and Murree Road.

Apart from the office goers, school going children also had to suffer the roadblocks to reach their campuses.

Many students appearing in annual matriculation exams of the federal board were also late for their papers.

Since heavy traffic, including trucks, lorries, tankers, and containers, were banned from entering the capital from midnight to 2pm on Monday, it led to a mini fuel shortage in some areas.

“Our tankers cannot reach us due to the roadblocks, so we have run out of petrol,” said a staffer at a fuel station as they flagged incoming vehicles to try the next station.

Police have advised the traffic coming from Lahore to take the GT Road through Rawalpindi to reach Islamabad, the M-2 motorway or Peshawar.

Those travelling to Murree or AJK have been told to either use Park Road through Lehtrar Road or take the Kashmir Highway.

Those travelling from Islamabad to the Benazir Bhutto International Airport or Lahore should take Ninth Avenue, Murree Road, Rawal Road and then Expressway through Koral interchange.

Only the people who have invitation cards for the Pakistan Day Parade would be allowed beyond the roadblocks.

ITP has requested the road users to cooperate with police and military personnel deployed at roads.

Pillion-riding banned

Meanwhile, the authorities have banned pillion riding on motorbikes in the capital for three days, March 21 through 23, for security reasons.

The ban was imposed under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

“Certain pillion riders are likely to resort to violence and acts of sabotage aimed at disrupting peace and tranquillity causing damage to public life and property during the rehearsals/fly-past on Pakistan Day Parade,” said an order issued by Islamabad District Magistrate Capt (retired) Mushtaq on Monday.

However, the elderly, women, and children have been exempted from the ban.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2018.