MULTAN, Sept 4: Encroachment, broken roads and inefficiency of the traffic police are some of the factors aggravating the traffic problems in the city, as elsewhere, making the motorists and commuters suffer in the sultry weather.

Traffic jams have become a regular feature on almost all roads that are potholed and encroached upon. The pedestrians too face inconvenience as sidewalks are occupied by encroachers and they can’t risk walking on the thoroughfares amid the flood of vehicles.

A pedestrian, who was finding his way through the goods displayed by shopkeepers on a sidewalk, said he couldn’t walk on the road even as most of it was having sewage. Encroachments of footpaths, he said, left little space for the pedestrians who had to move along queues of vehicles.

Tariq Naeemullah, the president of Muttahida Shehri Mahaaz, said the elderly people, women and students faced a great deal of inconvenience due to traffic jams on roads. The situation had aggravated when about two months ago Wasa officials dug up various roads, but did not fill the portions especially on Bosan Road and Shujaabad Road.

Another reason for traffic snarls was haphazard parking as, he said, the authorities did not pay attention to earmark parking areas during the construction of plazas and markets.

He said the roads of Multan were not wide enough to cater to demands of growing number of vehicles as a result of which motorists stuck for hours daily, especially during school and office timings.

Faheem Mushtaq a resident of Noor Colony, blamed the encroachers and the traffic police for the sorry state of affairs. He alleged that most of the traffic police officials shirked duty and leave the motorists in the mess.

He was of the view that a traffic police helpline to register complaints could help the improve the situation.