Gridlocks multiply as thousands enjoy PSL fixture

Traffic police blame rain for the mess on the roads

LAHORE: Instead of admitting their total failure to ensure smooth vehicular flow on major city roads on the second day of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches in Lahore, City Traffic Police has blamed the rain for the gridlock on major city arteries on Wednesday.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, a number of citizens, who remained stranded in long traffic queues on Ferozepur Road, Canal Road, Mall Road, Jail Road, Wahdat Road and other adjoining routes, complained about traffic mismanagement in the city.

A citizen, Osama Khalil, said the City Traffic Police was spreading false information through its ‘Rasta’ mobile application. He pointed out that traffic police were sending “engineered” notifications to its mobile app users that traffic on city roads was slow due to the rain. “It may be true when it’s raining, but right now there is no rain and anyone can witness long vehicle queues on main roads. Now, the city has a world-class security and surveillance system running under police control. They are getting live video feeds from all across the city, but are still reluctant to learn how to fix the problem. This is rather unfortunate,” he lamented.



A commuter, Asrar Ahmad, said the City Traffic Police did not learn any lesson from the traffic jam on Tuesday night that made citizens’ lives miserable. Ahmad, who was on way to home on Main Ferozepur Road, pointed out that the traffic was moving at a snail’s pace hours before the start of the cricket match. “It is the negligence of the City Traffic Police and other law enforcing agencies. They failed to make a proper security and traffic management plan otherwise the situation would be much better in the city,” he maintained.

A student of a public university, Muhammad Imran, said his university administration has announced a holiday on Wednesday on the pretext of the closure of roads. He said that difficulties faced by parents and students due to the traffic jams in the city on Tuesday were taken into consideration.

Similarly, Amna Khan, a housewife, complained about the late return of her children from school. She said the school of her children closed early on Tuesday, but her children returned late due to the traffic mess on most city roads.

“I believe it is the worst strategy to promote games and the soft image of the country. All international players have televisions and access to news outlets in their rooms and they must be aware of what was happening in the city outside their hotel walls. Security of the guest players is important, but not at the cost of local citizens who have been stranded in their houses for the past two days,” she underlined.

A high-level meeting of law enforcing agencies, city traffic police and the city administration was held on Wednesday to tweak the security and traffic plan for the PSL match. City Traffic Officer (CTO) Rai Ejaz told the media that additional wardens and newly recruited traffic assistants have been deployed in the city to improve traffic flow on city roads. In addition, three more Deputy Superintend Police (DSPs) have also been deployed on major city roads to monitor and supervise traffic management.

A senior police official also highlighted that the number of wardens had been increased from the existing 2,000 to 2,200 on Wednesday to improve traffic flow.

Lahore Gaddafi Stadium has a seating capacity of around 25,000 spectators. According to police department’s official claim, over 18,000 police personnel have been deployed for the security of PSL fixtures.

If the number of traffic wardens and other law enforcing agencies officials are included, every spectator is being guarded by the minimum of one security official.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2018.