LAHORE: Outrage on Qadri death sentence threw the traffic out of
gear causing worst bottleneck on the Mall road and various linking
arteries. Though the traffic jam is permanent feature of the city but
Qadri issue turned it more than worst.
Commuters were left hay and dry cursing both protesters and the traffic police for unleashing the hell of long hour gridlocks.
Gradually
after the announcement of court verdict against Qadri, major portion of
the city witnessed bumper to bumper traffic mess. The traffic in
Anarkali and adjacent localities, Jail Road, Ferozpur Road, Canal Bank
Road, Lower Mall, Garhi Shahu, China Chowk, Circular Road, Badami Bagh,
Safanwala Chowk, Azadi Chowk, Queens Road, GPO Chowk, Maclod Road,
Nappier Chowk and Davis Road, Qartaba Chowk, Lakshami Chowk, Wahdat
Road, Bhjaikhay Wal Chowk was observed running at snail’s speed.
The
low pace of the traffic lasted till ends of city as the impact of
traffic jam could be felt at entrance and exit routes of the city at
Multan Road, Yateem Khan Chowk and Thokar Niaz Baig. Traffic entrance
at Mall Road from Regal to Governor House was closed by Traffic Police.
All vehicles including ambulances were left stranded in the traffic
rush for hours.
The only sound audible on roads was of horns
while many commuters had to park their vehicles miles away from their
destinations owing to the blocked roads. The shops and banks on mall
road closed immediately after the protesters took over the roads
fearing the looting of valuables.
Traffic in the Lahore that
was already running congested due to ongoing construction of many roads
came to a grinding halt causing people to remain stuck in the traffic
mess for hours. The roads including canal road, Multan Road, Allama
Iqbal Road and Ravi Road are dug up at different places for
construction and widening purposes. Online
