New Year’s Eve for friends, Day for families

Revellers jam roads at midnight, parks packed on first day of 2012.

LAHORE: Revellers celebrated the new year in traditional Lahori fashion – on the streets – while families flocked to parks on the first day of the year yesterday.

The Mall, Gulberg Main Boulevard and Iqbal Town Main Boulevard were jam-packed as the clock struck midnight. Many people got out of their cars to dance and celebrate. They were urged back inside by traffic wardens trying to keep the traffic moving. Celebratory gunfire was heard around the city at 12 for about 20 minutes.

The Mall near Charring Cross was blocked for traffic to stop youngsters from making a mess at the famous square. Incoming traffic was diverted to Queens Road while outgoing traffic was diverted to Cooper Road.

Unlike last year, Gulberg Main Boulevard was kept open for everyone and not just families. There was a mass brawl near the Siddique Trade Centre in which many vehicles were damaged. Parties were held well into the night all over the city despite reports that Excise and Taxation department officials would be raiding parties in upscale areas of the city.

Police officers said that New Year’s Eve passed fairly peacefully. They said they continued patrolling until around 2am and traffic was not as bad as last year. They said that most of the revellers on the streets were young people with their friends rather than families.

Ghulshan-i-Iqbal Park, Race Course Park, Bagh-i-Jinnah and the Lahore Zoo received large numbers of visitors on New Year’s Day, a Sunday. Police were deployed at the entrances and exits while some also patrolled inside in civvies.

Ghulam Abbas, supervisor at Gulshan-i-Iqbal, said that around 25 people had been deputed at places in the park to keep a check on trouble makers. He said that local police was also in the area.

The Race Course Park supervisor said that families from around the city started arriving at the park in the morning and it was busy all day.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd,  2012.