KARACHI, Dec 18: The city witnessed another day of traffic jams in some areas on Saturday owing to the stepped up security measures for the movement of President Pervez Musharraf.
All the law-enforcement agencies appeared active in providing a foolproof security to the president in view of several attempts on his life in Karachi and Rawalpindi in the recent past. The unblemished security, however, trampled on the right of commuters and pedestrians to use roads and streets, which were closed by the law-enforcement agencies well before the arrival of the president at a specific place.
The most important and busiest artery, Sharea Faisal, was closed for traffic twice on Saturday for many hours, causing inconvenience to hundreds of road users at a time. As a result of the closure, people were compelled to use alternative roads and streets to reach their destinations.
The law-enforcers had also removed the parked vehicles from along the road and dumped them at various places in nearby localities to keep the road clear. Their action perturbed owners of the vehicle who were found desperate in locating their cars and motorcycles in the streets around the vicinity. The action was taken without any proper arrangement or prior announcement by the law-enforcement agencies to warn the people that their vehicles could be lifted if found parked on way of the president's route.
The closure of Sharea Faisal from Metropole to Regent Plaza had created a traffic mess at both the ends and its impact was felt in Clifton, Abdullah Haroon Road, Shaheen Complex, I. I. Chundrigar Road, Saddar, Lucky Star, and other linked areas.
The traffic jam around the Metropole persisted for hours and the traffic police officials were seen trying to divert the flow towards some alternative routes. Motorists and commuters in public transport means remained stranded in the deluge as they had no option opened but to wait for the release of jams.
A police official said: "We have taken extraordinary security steps for the safety of the president. We have also made alternative arrangements for the flow of traffic but motorists did not cooperate with the police."
An irate motorist questioned: "If the president doesn't feel himself safe in Karachi, why does he come here to inflict pain to the residents of the city?"
