Motorists face gridlock amid heavy rain

Underpasses remained flooded, hindering smooth traffic flow

LAHORE:

Rain continued intermittently throughout the day in the provincial capital on Tuesday, disrupting traffic flow and causing inconvenience to the people.

Motorists drove at a snail’s pace on the city’s busy roads because no matter how skilled a driver may be, one cannot avoid skidding on a wet road.

Underpasses posed the greatest challenge to the motorists where the flow of traffic became even slower.

Motorcyclists were even worse off. They stopped off and on to let the rain stop before moving on.

The worst traffic situation was witnessed on the Canal Road, the main artery of the city which is also a signal-free corridor.

Some of the underpasses were so much inundated by rainwater that navigating through them became out of the question.

Other low-lying areas too became impassable.

Meanwhile, traffic wardens remained on the roads throughout the day to help those who got stuck on the roads, said the Spokesperson for the City Traffic Police, Arif Rana.

He said that the circle officers arrived at the points early in the morning to check the deployment.

Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Muntazir Mehdi himself visited different parts of the city, including Ferozpur Road, Kot Lakhpat, Gulab Devi Hospital, Ichra, Mozang, Lytton Road, Chuaburji, Multan Road, Lower Mall, Data Sahib, Jail Road and the Main Boulevard Gulberg, and issued necessary instructions to deal with the traffic problem due to rainwater.

Mehdi said all the lifters and breakdowns were set up in the inundated areas that remained busy in removing the stuck vehicles.

The circle officers also remained in contact with WASA administration in their respective areas to clear the roads as early as possible.

Whenever the bikers gathered near the underpasses on the Canal Road, the wardens asked them to move on.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2022.