KARACHI: City witnesses worst traffic jams
The Dawn
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, April 19: Worst traffic jams were witnessed on Sharea Faisal and other
roads due to closure of M.A. Jinnah Road on the day of Muttahida Qaumi
Movement's public meeting at Nishtar Park on Friday.
People returning home from offices and workplaces faced severe hardships as they
got stuck up in the deluge of traffic for hours.
The public meeting was organized in the evening and people in several small and
large motorcades started swelling in and around the venue since afternoon.
Youths, wearing caps inscribed with MQM, took over control of the traffic and
closed the main artery - M.A. Jinnah Road - for vehicular traffic. The Soldier
Bazaar Road and its link roads were also closed, causing inconvenience to the
motorists.
In view of the traffic situation, the traffic police personnel left those places
where youths had taken over the streets to guide those coming to attend the
public meeting.
The traffic police moved to some other places to control traffic flow. Vehicular
traffic coming from Liaquatabad to Teen Hatti was diverted towards Jail Road or
Nishter Road. They also closed the Business Recorder Road from Lasbella and
traffic coming from Nazimabad was diverted towards Garden or Teen Hatti.
Traffic approaching M.A. Jinnah Road was either diverted towards Garden or
Sharea Faisal, which made the two arteries overcrowded.
On Sharea Faisal, traffic jams were witnessed near the Metropole Hotel and at
the traffic signals of Kashif Centre, Hotel Regent Plaza, Gora Qabristan,
Masjid-i-Roomi, Nursery, etc.
Although the high officials of district and traffic police were in the field to
control the traffic, they seemed helpless in ensuring the smooth flow of
vehicular movement.
The pressure on Sharea Faisal resulted in an increased load of vehicles on the
adjoining arteries, including Tipu Sultan Road, Karsaz Road, and scores of lanes
and bylanes in PECHS and Mohammad Ali Cooperative Housing Society.
The most affected were those in ambulances, who remained stranded in the deluge
of traffic along with scores of others rushing to the airport to catch flights.