KARACHI, Nov 27: The city witnessed severe traffic jams on its main arteries due to closure of the M.A. Jinnah Road on the occasion of a procession taken out to mark Youm-i-Ali on Wednesday.

The religious procession to mark the martyrdom day of Hazrat Ali (R.A) was taken out from Nishtar Park at about 12 noon, which terminated in Kharadar. Heavy contingents of law-enforcement agencies and police were deployed on the procession route to maintain peace and avert any eventuality.

The city administration and the traffic police closed the M.A. Jinnah Road on the occasion. The administration had announced alternative routes for the motorists, on which the traffic police failed to control the vehicular movement. Thousands of motorists and people travelling by buses and other means of transport got trapped in the deluge of vehicles and faced severe hardships for hours.

The Jehangir Road was closed from Tin Hatti and traffic was diverted to Jail Road or Nishter Road, due to which traffic coming downtown on the S.M. Taufiq Road in Liaquatabad remained choked.

The ongoing construction works at Guru Mandir roundabout, Jahangir Road and on the Business Recorder Road added to the miseries of the commuters. The city government has failed to complete the work within the stipulated period.

Traffic on Nisthar Road continued to move at a snail’s pace since morning, as vehicles were not allowed to proceed to Guru Mandir and were diverted to Garden from Lasbella.

Sharea Faisal was also crowded as most of the motorists were forced to use this artery. Traffic jams were witnessed at Metropole Hotel, at the traffic signals of Kashif Centre, Regent Plaza hotel, Gora Qabristan, Masjid-i-Roomi, Nursery, etc. Although high officials of the district and traffic police were in the field, they appeared helpless in ensuring a smooth flow of traffic.

The pressure on Sharea led to an increased load of vehicles on the adjoining arteries, including Tipu Sultan Road, Karsaz Road and scores of lanes and bylanes in the PECHS and Mohammad Ali Society.

An increase in traffic load was also witnessed on Sharah-i-# Quaideen with motorists skipping the affected section of Sharea Faisal and moving to the non-carpeted Lines Area road.

The hardest-affected were those in ambulances who remained stranded in the deluge of traffic along with scores of others rushing to airport to catch flights.

The roaring ambulances were seen stuck up at some points where there was no way out for them.

Students who had reached educational institutions in the morning also faced hardships in returning homes.

“It took two hours for me to cover the distance between Bahadurabad to the I.I. Chundrigar Road,” said Mubashir Salam and added that it was 4.15pm at Bahadurabad when he left home for his night shift duty.

Bashir Hussain said: “I went to Shahrah-i-Quaideen from Metropole in a coach which took more than 45 minutes to reach there. It was too hot and the vehicles were moving very slowly, while the police witnessed the disorder helplessly.”