Power, gas outages spark protest on Lyari Expressway

Gulbahar residents staged a protest on the Lyari Expressway on Thursday against prolonged electricity and gas outages, blocking a major section of the roadway and causing severe traffic congestion across the city.

The demonstrators blocked the carriageway leading from Mauripur to Sohrab Goth, bringing traffic to a standstill and resulting in kilometres-long queues of vehicles. Hundreds of commuters were stranded for hours, with many motorists forced to switch off their engines.

The protest caused widespread disruption on one of Karachi's key traffic corridors, while congestion also spilled over into adjoining roads and intersections. After more than an hour of negotiations, police succeeded in persuading the demonstrators to disperse and reopened the affected section of the Lyari Expressway.