LAHORE, Oct 12: Motorists got trapped in a gridlock on Raiwind Road, Canal Road, Johar Town, near Thokar Niaz Baig Chowk and Chowk Yateem Khana after the first phase of Raiwind Tablighi moot concluded on Sunday.

Long queues of motorists were seen on the Canal Road (towards Thokar) between the Campus underpass and Thokar Niaz Baig apparently owing to several traffic diversions which restricted their movement in areas of Punjab university campus, Johar Town and arteries linked with the Canal Road.

The gridlock occurred despite a ‘comprehensive’ plan issued by city traffic police on the eve of Tablighi moot deploying two SPs, 13 DSPs, 51 senior wardens and 762 wardens.

As the police had erected barriers at Shah Di Khoi underpass, Doctors Hospital underpass and Lala Zar underpass to restrict motorists’ movement towards Thokar Niaz Baig to accommodate the vehicles coming from Raiwind Road to Canal Road and Motorway, the traffic chocked on the Canal Road and its surrounding arteries.

Vehicles were witnessed piling up on the Canal Road, Maulana Shaukat Ali Road, Expo Road and near Thokar Chowk.

The main reason for the mess was poor handling of traffic at diversions. According to the traffic plan, the motorists who wanted to go towards Thokar and onwards to Multan Road and Motorway, were diverted to Chowk Yateem Khana through Canal Road, Bhaikay Wal Morr, Iqbal Town main boulevard and Multan Road to reach their respective destinations.

This plan further aggravated the situation on Iqbal Town’s main boulevard and near Chowk Yateem Khana on Multan Road.

Chief Traffic Officer Hussain Habib Imtiaz, when contacted, claimed that traffic returning from Tablighi Ijtemaa towards TNC and city remained smooth.

He said the motorists coming from Canal Road to Thokar were barred as per traffic plan published in newspapers which might have caused some problems.

“Traffic coming towards TNC from Canal Road and parts of Johar Town and its adjacent localities was stopped from 9am to 7pm as per the plan,” he said.

He claimed that traffic flow was restored on Raiwind Road after two hours at the end of Tablighi moot.

At around 4.30pm, the traffic coming from Thokar to university campus on Canal Road was also chocked in varsity area after a local route bus broke down there.

The traffic flow on the Canal Road, which is narrow along the university campus, often got disturbed in case of break down of vehicles in that area.