Inter-provincial traffic suffers from GT Road blockage

Varsity and college students see exams rescheduled


Our Correspondents November 03, 2018
People protest against load-shedding by blocking Miryan Road and burning tree branches in Bannu. PHOTO: ONLINE

PESHAWAR: With a call for a nationwide strike, commuters travelling between the provincial capital and the federal capital could hardly find a way through as protestors blocked the main Grand Trunk (GT) Road.

The strike had been called after the Supreme Court had earlier in the week overturned the conviction of Aasia Bibi, a mother of five, and ordered her freed.

The highway was blocked at the Pir Zakorhi Bridge while commuters trying to get on to the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway within the remits of the provincial capital also faced immense difficulty.

With key intersections blocked, people travelling to and from the provincial capital faced immense problems.

Those most affected by the blockade were patients who had obtained appointments with doctors for the day apart from some emergency cases which were being shifted to health facilities in Peshawar.

Those who had stayed overnight with their relatives or friends in the provincial capital faced immense difficulties in leaving the city on Friday as well.

“I stayed at the house of my relatives since I had to undergo a minor operation on my thumb,” 65-year-old Muqaish Bibi told The Express Tribune.

Narrating her ordeal of trying to navigate the deserted yet blocked roads of the city, she said that she had hired a rickshaw.

The three-wheeler, though, only took her as far as until the Zakorhi Bridge since the way forward was blocked.

At the sight of the blocked roads, Muqaish Bibi said that she started worrying about getting back home. But her memory deserted her at the most inopportune moment and she could not contact her sons.

Students suffer

Students of colleges and universities in the province had to suffer as their scheduled exams were put off for a later date owing to the road closures.

Varsity student Alamzeb, from Mardan, stated he had to travel for miles just to reach to the provincial capital.

“I thought I would find some transportation in Peshawar but the situation seems to be similar to what I saw in Mardan,” he said.

However, roads within the walled city  — older parts of Peshawar — remained open until early afternoon. As was the Peshawar motorway until Attock, the edge of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s eastern provincial boundary.

After the Friday prayers, however, even this area saw several roads blocked as activists of different religious parties staged protest demonstrations

Unlike the GT Road, the Charsadda Road, Dalazak Road, Kohat Road and the University Road remained open all day.

The Pakistan-Afghanistan Highway in Landi Kotal was also blocked for traffic, disrupting trade traffic.

Owing to protests, the main road in Mohmand tribal district was also partially closed for traffic in the afternoon causing problems for commuters.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2018.

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