With a burgeoning population and crumbling infrastructure, an influx of cars on the road has become a nightmare for motorists in the garrison city, leading to frequent snarl-ups on Murree Road.
As people throng wholesale markets ahead of Ramazan, the roads in Rawalpindi experienced massive traffic jams on Tuesday. The shoppers flocked to Raja Bazaar, Ganj Mandi, Namak Mandi, Bara Market, Fruit Mandi and wholesale markets in inner-city areas of Rawalpindi.
To add to motorists woes, there is excessive encroachment on the roadside and pavements while motorists park their vehicles along the road as well, impeding the flow of traffic.
It is a scene of bedlam and utter chaos with motorists exchanging heated words with each other as well as traffic wardens while ambulances and Rescue 1122 vehicles are often seen stuck in snarl-ups, endangering the lives of people.
The city planners are clueless as to what to do and if this state of affairs continues, motorists will have to leave for work at dawn and return at dusk spending six hours on the road.
With the onset of Ramazan, chaotic scenes are witnessed as tempers flare and fights ensue while everyone seems to be in a mad rush to get home.
This compounds traffic problems, especially at Iftar time, as helplessness and frustration are visible on the faces of traffic personnel.
To this end, the City Traffic Police (CTP) has deployed extra personnel and formed no-parking squads to keep the traffic flow smooth during the month of Ramazan.
On the directions of Rawalpindi Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Rai Mazhar Iqbal, the headquarters duty officer has made traffic arrangements for Rawalpindi city keeping in view the traffic jams occurring during Ramazan.
CTP has deployed 98 traffic police personnel at different spots in the city while 10 special no-parking squads have been formed, which would continue patrolling and take action against wrongly parked vehicles.
CTO Iqbal said that the city witnesses four times more than the normal rush during Ramazan.
He added that more than 1.5 million vehicles and motorbikes enter markets on Chakri Road, Raja Bazaar, Iqbal Road, Murree Road, Commercial market, Adyala Road, etc.
Murree Road, Kutcheri Chowk, Rawal Road, Iqbal Road, City Saddar Road, Jamia Masjid Road, Committee Chowk, Jhelum Road, Chandni Chowk, and Saidpur Road witnessed traffic snarl-ups while connecting roads across the city also experienced a similar situation.
The rescue vehicles also remained stuck for hours in traffic congestion. The CTP blocked traffic entry to Kutcheri Chowk from Murir Chowk and set up a fish belly near Rialto Chowk.
Similarly, the traffic entry from Liaquat Bagh Chowk to Murree Road was also closed and a fish belly was established near Committee Chowk's underpass.
Despite that, the traffic continued to move at snail’s speed, adding to the miseries of the motorists. The motorists demanded the government to make viable changes in the traffic plan to provide relief to them.
The CTO has urged citizens to avoid leaving their homes unnecessarily owing to the coronavirus situation and refrain from wrong parking so that other road users do not face difficulties and urged commuters to cooperate with the traffic wardens.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 14th, 2021.
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