Twin cities paralysed by security blockades

Residents of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad had to face a great deal of inconvenience and their routine life was almost paralysed on late Wednesday and Thursday after the administration and police sealed off all entry and exit points, closed Faizabad Interchange and suspended Metrobus service in anticipation of the PTI Tarnol rally, ongoing Test series between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Rawalpindi and an Islamabad sit-in in connection with Mubarak Sani case.

The administrative action followed the imposition of section 144 in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and across Punjab to ban gatherings, rallies and sit-ins.

Blockades and suspension of transport led to a complete paralysis of social, business, and commercial activities throughout Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Rawalpindi's traffic system was utterly disrupted, effectively turning the entire city into a container city.

Students, government and private sector employees and litigants faced severe difficulties. Attendance in educational institutions and government offices remained thin. There were also fewer prisoners and litigants present in the courts as prisoners were not brought to courts from Adiala Jail for hearings.

All major roads in Rawalpindi, including Mall Road, Katchery Chowk, Airport Road, Murree Road, City Saddar Road and Rawal Road experienced severe traffic congestion. Similarly, the Sixth Road in Rawalpindi along with the route towards Faizabad, GT Road from Swan Bridge, Chak Bailey Chowk, Bhai Khan Bridge near Gujarkhan, main roads connecting Rawat T Chowk, 26 Chongi the Motorway Link Road below Taxila, Margalla near Taxila and others were closed by erecting barriers.

Due to the closures, wholesale markets, grain markets, and all commercial centres could not receive supplies of grains, vegetables, and fruits from outside the city, resulting in a hike in vegetable and fruit prices.

Ambulances were stuck in traffic throughout the day. Although the police were relieved by the cancellation of the PTI rally, the roads remained sealed until the evening.

This situation allowed commercial bikers like Bykea to make substantial bucks, charging stranded citizens Rs300 to Rs400 for distances of two to three kilometres.

Authorities blocked the national highways and motorways beside the main roads of the twin cities at various places from Thursday morning. After the PTI withdrew the call for the rally and announced that the rally would be held on September 8, the traffic on the motorways and the national highways was partially opened.

Furthermore, the Pak-Bangladesh cricket match turned the Stadium Road and surrounding areas in Rawalpindi into no-go zones for four consecutive days. Due to road closures, schools were closed early as a precaution, and long-distance pick-and-drop vehicles were unable to reach the schools. Residents, shopkeepers, and students commuting daily from nearby tehsils such as Gujar Khan, Kahuta, Kotli Sattian, Murree, and Taxila also faced difficulties.

This time, a record number of containers were placed for blockades. Layers of containers were stacked on the main route from Faizabad to Islamabad, with three containers stacked on top of each other. Even the small pathways for pedestrians and motorbikes under the containers were sealed off, creating significant challenges for motorcyclists.

Citizens stuck in traffic jams, including young men and women, continued to curse the rulers and the police.

One Ikram Chaudhry said that Rawalpindi had been turned into a city of containers, demanding the rulers to open the roads and uphold citizens' freedom. Chaudhry Imran remarked that seeing barricades everywhere made it seem as if a foreign country had attacked. The rulers should focus on solving public difficulties instead of panicking, he suggested.