Tourists continue to throng Murree

Officials crack down on one-wheeling and car-skidding in Pindi

RAWALPINDI: While the official Eidul Fitr holidays may be over, it has not dampened the holiday spirit for many as people continued to throng the Murree hill station and surrounding areas. The traffic police focused on tackling one-wheelers and car skidders, mostly overlooked duties to manage the massive flow of traffic and subsequent gridlocks.

The four-day Eid holidays proved to be a welcome opportunity for people who love nature and outdoor activities to head to the hilly tourist resort of Murree.



The hill station attracted a large number of tourists during the first four days of Eidul Fitr.

Tourists from across the country visited various resorts of Murree including Patriata, Kashmir Point, Mall Road, Ayubia and New Murree.

There was a stringent deployment of police to guard against criminal activities — a topic of much debate in recent weeks with a massive robbery close to Murree town and other unpleasant incidents with tourists.

"We have deployed traffic police and other officers to maintain the flow of traffic and to provide stringent security to tourists," stated a senior police officer.



Despite that, the Murree road could be seen clogged with bumper-to-bumper-traffic on Tuesday.

Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) Managing Director Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor said that that the corporation had started work on analysing the ratio of tourists visiting various resorts from the start of current summer season.

He expressed the hope that more tourists would visit various hill resorts during the ongoing summer season.

The PTDC chief added that at the end of the season, a detailed report would be issued to compare the tourists flow with that of past years.

CTP enhances vigilance during Eid

The City Traffic Police of Rawalpindi enhanced vigilance during the Eid holidays as they took extraordinary arrangements to prevent road mishaps and to cut down on rash driving and one-wheeling.

Active vigilance on the road also ensured by keeping a thorough check on motorbike riders and car drivers.

In this regard, the police on Tuesday claimed to have apprehended two one-wheelers and have registered cases against them.

Special squads of traffic police were on duty during the Eid holidays, setting up several check posts throughout the city to keep an eye out for rash drivers and one-wheelers.

Traffic police officials informed that hundreds of officers and inspectors were stationed at various points in the city and adjoining areas, including on Airport Road, Maal Road, Peshawar Road and Jhelum Road near Ayub Park.

“Car-skidding and one-wheeling have become usual menaces during the holidays,” police officials said, adding, “Deadly stunts by riders were also observed during the three-day festival, but special check posts put a halt to the reckless road activity.”

All DSPs, as well as sector and beat in charges, were directed to ensure action and crackdowns against road violations. Those involved in car skidding and one-wheeling were specifically identified as main targets of the campaign. Instructions to lock down the violators without any leniency were issued to ensure that the city remained free of any road casualties or losses to property.

With further input from APP

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