Commuters face traffic disruptions on second day of rain

Two major city entry points choked after truck overturns on Ravi Bridge

LAHORE:

Commuters and wardens struggled to cope with traffic problems aggravated by the second consecutive day of rainfall in the provincial capital on Friday.

The major roads of the city were inundated. Breakdown of vehicles, minor accidents and trees falling on roads intensified the traffic woes at several points. The traffic was already moving at a slow place n slippery roads after the rain spell over recent days.

As the day began, a truck overturned on Ravi Bridge at the city's entrance from GT Road.

Thousands of vehicles entering and leaving the city pass the route every hour. "The truck overturned after after its tyre burst," Traffic SP Shahzad Khan said.

He said the accident resulted in suspension of traffic flow from Shahdara to Lahore and vice versa.

Traffic police officials tried to divert the heavy traffic towards Saggian Bridge, another busy route, and other vehicles to the Old Ravi Bridge. The traffic remained disrupted for several hours.

Thousands of commuters entering Lahore for important tasks like court hearings, job interviews, shopping, business, meeting relatives and visiting hospitals were left stranded during the period.

The SP said traffic police used “breakdown lifters" to remove the truck of the bridge. The diversion to Saggian resulted in a traffic mess at the other entry point of the city as well.

Meanwhile, inside the city, rainwater pooled on at Timber Market, Circular Road, GCU Cut, Istanbul Chowk, Ichra, Harbancepura, Mughalpura, Ichra, Mozang, GT Road, Walton Road and many other points. The traffic was forced to move in one or two lanes on the inundated roads.

Read More: Multan declares rain emergency

A tree fell onto a road near Afshan Chowk because of the rain that also caused a large number of minor accidents, disrupting the traffic flow.

The traffic wardens braved the rain amid severe cold weather to perform their challenging duties on the roads. Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Muntazir Mehdi reiterated his instructions to the staff to visit their areas and take measures to ensure traffic flow.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2022.