Massive gridlock in city as fog disrupts movement across Punjab

Eight commuters suffered injuries at M-2 Motorway when some vehicles collided near Sheikhupura

LAHORE: A massive traffic jam was observed at all the entry and exit points of the provincial capital on Sunday.

Long queues spanning one to two kilometres of bumper to bumper traffic were witnessed at all entry and exit points including Shahdara Morr, Saggian Bridge, Babu Sabu, Old Ravi Bridge and Thokar Niaz Beg.

According to City Traffic Police Lahore (CTPL), unusual traffic load and foggy weather were the reasons behind this traffic jam and traffic load was being shifted to GT Road due to fog.

The traffic blocked caused nuisance to people who wanted to enter or leave the city. It also exposed the management of traffic police.

The blockade started Saturday night when long queues of vehicles started gearing up on Shahdara Morr and Saggian Bridge. The situation turned more miserable when frustrated drivers moved their cars in opposite direction on one-way roads. The vehicles were stuck in such a bad manner that these could neither proceed further or backward.

The jam started initially from Saggian Interchange when a load of traffic leaving and entering Lahore, Sheikhupura and Nankana Sahib. The road from Saggian Ravi Bridge to Saggian Interchange was being renovated at some points.

A driver, Waleed Ahmad, told The Express Tribune that he wanted to move towards Sheikhupura and traveling from Saggian Bridge, but he got stuck and somehow managed to exit and moved to Begum Kot. “After being stuck for over two hours, I decided to give up the idea of travelling to Sheikhupura move back home. I decided to take the route of Shahdara Mor. When I reached there, it was also jam-packed with long queues of vehicles”, he mourned.

The blockade at Shahdara Mor also led to the blockade at Ravi Bridge. The commuters moved to Old Ravi Bridge.

Ahmad said that when he failed to enter Lahore through Shahdara, he moved to Sheikhupura Road. From there, he started driving on the motorway with an intention to move towards Thokar from Kala Shah Kaku. A long queue about two kilometers long was there at Kala Shah Kaku Toll plaza. From there, he moved to Thokar Niaz Beg. A long queue was also there, he added.

Spokesperson CTPL said extra wardens had been deployed at all entry and exit points of the city. He asked to call on 15 for help and listen to FM 88.6 for traffic updates.

Dense fog has also engulfed other major cities and plains across Punjab. Poor visibility in the morning and night hours is causing inconvenience to the commuters as road, rail and air traffic have also been disrupted.

Weather and fog forecast report issued by the Pakistan Meteorological Department on Sunday indicated that continental air was likely to prevail over most parts of the country during the next few days. Foggy conditions were likely to continue in plains of Punjab, upper Sindh and Peshawar division during the morning and night hours. Frost is also expected in upper parts of the country, the report states.

Fog forecast shows that dense, shallow fog in the morning and night hours will continue in the provincial capital, Faisalabad, Sahiwal and Bahawalpur during next three days, while shallow fog is expected in Rawalpindi, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Sargodha, Jehlum, Mandi Bahaudin and Gujjrat.

Minimum visibility statistics show that dense fog blanket has dropped visibility to 50 metres in the provincial capital, 100 metre in Hafizabad, Narowal and adjoining areas causing extreme inconvenience to commuters and motorist. Similarly, minimum visibility in other districts of Punjab recorded between 600 metre and seven kilometre.

Travel advisory issue by the National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP) showed that foggy conditions were being observed at M2 Lahore-Islamabad Motorway from Kot Momin to Thokar Niaz Baig.

A spokesman for the motorway police advised motorists and commuters to check the weather forecast and the NHMP travel advisory before travel as they may have to face closure of roads at different locations due to local weather conditions.

He pointed out that police had closed different sections of M-2 Lahore Islamabad Motorway and M-1 Islamabad Peshawar Motorway due to poor visibility. Speaking to The Express Tribune, a commuter, Muhammad Irfan said he witnessed very dense fog along Grand Trunk Road in areas like Okara, Sahiwal, Chicha Watni, Mian Chanu and adjoining areas. “Traffic was almost standstill as visibility on the road was dropped to merely a few feet owing to dense fog,” he highlighted.

Dense fog also caused accidents in different various cities. Some eight commuters suffered injuries at M-2 Motorway when some eight vehicles collided near Sheikhupura on Sunday morning due to poor visibility. As per reports, the accident occurred at 10:30am when visibility in the area was around 15-20 metres.

Fog has also affected the flight operations as nearly six flights were cancelled and over a dozen domestic and international flights were delayed due to fog on Sunday. Similarly, rail traffic was also disrupted due to dense fog and some 10 trains were delayed.