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| August 14, 2007 | Tuesday | Rajab 29, 1428 |
KARACHI: Karachi suffers massive gridlock
KARACHI, Aug 13: With the current spell of monsoon rains almost over, the city witnessed traffic chaos on all thoroughfares for several hours on Monday. A huge influx of motorists from all parts of the city was witnessed on the first working day after three days of rain that lashed the metropolis and left many roads in shambles.
Thousands of vehicles remained stuck for many hours on M.A. Jinnah Road, Sharea Faisal, Shahrah-i-Quaideen, Shahrah-i-Liaquat, Nishtar Road, Tower, Banaras Chowk, Liaquatabad-Karimabad Road, University Road, Sher Shah-Mauripur Road, Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road and Manghopir Road.
Major portions of some roads were inundated with rainwater while others were dug up for development work. The roads were jam-packed with bumper-to-bumper traffic. The road diversions and blockades on main arteries also resulted in a chaos-like situation on the link roads, including Shahrah-i-Iraq, Dr Mohammad Hashim Ghauri Road, Arambagh, Fawara Chowk and Dawood Puta Road.
Despite the road safety week being observed by traffic police throughout the city, they were present only at a few intersections. In their absence, the drivers of public and private transport vying to make their way out complicated the problem. At some intersections, where traffic signals were switched off and traffic was being regulated by volunteers, vehicles moved at a snail’s pace.
Ambulances were seen trapped in the deluge of vehicles and among others schoolchildren also remained stranded for hours. The problem in front of the City Courts, Boultan Market aggravated due to illegal parking of vehicles in double lanes. Besides, encroachers and handcart pushers on the busiest roads also played their part in clogging the traffic flow.
Many drivers complained that they faced tremendous hardships due to the traffic congestion as a distance covered in 30 minutes took at least two hours. Complaints of traffic jam were also received from Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Federal B Area, North Karachi and Nazimabad.
Deputy Inspector General (Traffic) of Police Wajid Durrani, when contacted, said the whole problem was created due to dug-up roads, rainwater and deep ditches in the middle of the roads, saying that the rains had multiplied the already existing problems.
About the traffic jam on Korangi Road and link roads, he said a portion of the road near the FTC building had caved in that caused some traffic problems on Korangi Road and Sharea Faisal. However, he claimed that traffic personnel themselves had started filling the ditch, but due to lack of resources it would take time.He said the traffic on MA Jinnah Road, Sher Shah Road and other areas was affected owing to the stagnant rainwater which was required to be drained out.
The DIG said he had contacted some elected representatives, including City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal, to help remove obstacles from the roads in order to regulate the traffic. He said traffic police personnel were doing well, but they could not construct the road with limited resources.
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