LAHORE - Lahore witnessed worst traffic mess throughout Thursday, as an inconvenient outcome of wardens’ inability to control the traffic, ongoing construction on roads and protest demonstrations.
Drivers, unaware of the reason behind traffic blocks, remained stuck for hours on the leading roads especially the Mall, Ferozepur Road, Jail Road, Bund Road, Canal Road, Multan Road and main boulevard Gulberg.
Where the construction work on Ferozepur Road and New Campus Canal Road was already enough to disrupt regular traffic, police wardens were inefficient enough to add the woes of commuters by simply doing nothing. Nonetheless, they suspended the automated traffic signal system at many crossings to manually run the traffic flow but this self-decided initiative further aggravated the situation.
In an absurd move, the wardens diverted the flow of traffic toward already-packed adjacent arteries in the populated vicinities like Garhi Shahu, Mozang Chowk, Qartba Chowk, Samanabad, Scheme More and Dharampura.
A huge chaos was also witnessed at the entry and exit points of the provincial capital especially at Thokar Niaz Baig, Suggian Bridge, Shahdara and Kahna.
Ironically, the police sources put all the blame on the people who had blocked the Ferozepur Road in a protest against gas loadshedding. They were demanding from the government to ensure supply to the domestic consumers in winter.
The protest demonstrations against the Taliban militants also triggered traffic jumbles at Faisal Chowk, Liberty roundabout and around Lahore Press Club.
The situation worsened further when the policemen diverted the traffic from main roads toward the already-packed adjacent arteries in the populated vicinities.
On the other hand, commuters complained that the traffic wardens stayed silent spectators after failing in ensuring smooth flow of traffic during rush hours. “No policeman was ready to listen to our complaints all that time we were stuck there,” many of the drivers lamented.
Most of the motorists had been clueless about their fate on roads, except of detouring around residential areas.
Motorists were also seen arguing with the policemen at traffic signals as they forced them to use alternative routes. “It took me 50 minutes to reach the Mall Road from Ichra, a distance I cover in less than 10 minutes in normal situation,” said schoolteacher Razi Uddin while talking to this reporter at Regal Chowk.
During last few decades, this city experienced an unprecedented rise in vehicular traffic. The public appeals to the authorities to take remedial measures to handle the traffic mismanagement considering the rapidly multiplying number of vehicles in the metropolis.