John Kerry’s visit: Residents remain stuck in traffic gridlock

‘Worst ever’ traffic jams witnessed as vehicles come to a standstill.

ISLAMABAD: Life almost came to a halt in the twin cities with the arrival of US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday.

It was not because people were on their toes to catch a glimpse of the state guest but were forced to take their hand and feet off the accelerators and wait for hours on almost all the roads of Islamabad and Rawalpindi due to the unprofessional conduct of authorities.

Traffic came to a grinding halt and hundreds of residents, who daily commute to and from the twin cities, were caught unaware of the traffic plan put in place by the local police in connection with the arrival of the American official.

In what is already a mad rush hour owing to the ongoing metro bus construction, commuters had to face a nightmarish scenario around evening time with the Islamabad Expressway completely choked.

Upon failing to move for hours, commuters did not spare the police, government and the ‘guest’ when it came to expressing their ‘heartfelt feelings’ due to the massive traffic jam. “People kept insulting the government and police,” said Baseer Khan, who was stuck in the gridlock in Islamabad. “It took me two hours to travel from Aabpara to Rawal Chowk,” he added.

Khan said Kerry could have been taken to any corner of the city in a helicopter from the airport but the authorities preferred road travel for ‘God knows what reasons.’ He, however, pointed out that the traffic police could not be blamed alone for the mess as a number of people had blocked the roads in an attempt to drive the wrong way.

Abdul Basit, 38, who came from United Kingdom to enjoy holidays with his family, could not reach his desired destination even after travelling for more than two hours to cover a distance which normally would have taken 15 to 20 minutes. “The capital has come to a standstill just for carrying a guest in a four wheeler. I wonder what it would be if a couple of more such guests arrive in the city on the same day,” said Basit.

While sharing his experience, Basit said he had never faced such a traffic jam in the UK. He feared that anyone could have targeted the mob as hundreds of vehicles along with commuters were stranded on the roads. “Patients were the worst affected as not a single vehicle could move an inch for hours,” Basit said. He added that people were standing alongside the road under freezing weather conditions.

All roads coming from the airport and heading to Zero Point and other surrounding areas, including the service roads, were clogged due to the VIP movement. Long queues of vehicles were seen on almost all roads in the capital and on many of the roads in the garrison city. Several airlines also delayed flights owing to the traffic snarl as travellers and flight crew failed to reach the airport on time.

Some people criticised the culture of giving heavy protocol to VIPs but many others expressed that it was not the fault of the visitors but the local authorities who fail to maintain a smooth flow of traffic on the main arteries of the twin cities.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2015.