PSL traffic plan causes inconvenience to businessmen

Traders urge officials to revisit existing traffic management plan to reduce losses

KARACHI:

The business community has been irked over the traffic management plan for Pakistan Super League (PSL) 6 and complained that it is incurring losses due to the traffic situation.

The business activities suffer badly during PSL days as the citizens of Karachi, after undergoing worst traffic conditions, prefer to somehow reach their homes only and refrain from visiting commercial markets, which brings down economic activity and causes immense losses to shopkeepers, lamented Businessmen Group Chairman Zubair Motiwala.

Although it is difficult to give the exact number for the losses suffered by the business community it could go up to billions of rupees as the large number of markets affected include Bahadurabad, Tariq Road and Millennium Mall etc where business activities suffer due to roadblocks, he added.

Every year, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) receives dozens of complaints mainly from the shopkeepers about limited business activities due to PSL and the same has started again this year, stated KCCI President Shariq Vohra.

He suggested that instead of closing down the main Stadium Road, police vehicles can be parked to guard the stadium while the number of policemen and Rangers troops must also be enhanced in a way that would not only secure the stadium but would also minimise hardships for commuters during PSL.

“We have been receiving a huge number of complaints from patients and their relatives who are either visiting Aga Khan Hospital or Liaquat National Hospital,” he said.