RAWALPINDI: The traffic mess in the city worsened with the closure of Murree Road, from Faizabad to Double Road, for repair work and caused residents and commuters immense difficulties.

The City Traffic Police (CTP) deployed a number of traffic wardens to control the flow of traffic but on Thursday they appeared overwhelmed by the situation.

Traffic jams were witnessed at numerous places in the city, during school timings, especially at 6th Road, Iran Road, Sadiqabad and Satellite Town areas.

Taxis and other public transport vehicle drivers refused to go to Murree Road because of the traffic mess and many people were forced to walk to their destinations.

People criticised the government for launching mega projects based on inadequate planning. “I wanted to go to Aabpara but the van driver dropped us at Sadiqabad because of the traffic jam at Double Road,” said a commuter Atif Ayzaz.

Portion of Murree Road will remain closed until Sunday

He said the megaprojects in the city have caused residents a lot of difficulties over the last year but the closure of the road at Faizabad has halted routine life.

Muhmmad Raees, a commuter at Chandani Chowk said the traffic police has failed to identify alternate routes and has diverted all traffic to Double Road which has resulted in the mess.

He said the roads should have been closed on the weekend instead of a working day. “Only one side of the road should be repaired at a time and the other side should be open for traffic,” he said.

City Traffic Police (CTO) Shoaib Khurram Janbaz said alternate routes had been identified for general traffic. People had been advised to use Airport Road, I. J. Principal Road and Double Road for Islamabad instead of Murree Road from Double Road to Faizabad.

The closure of the road created confusion among students at various educational institutions. Realising the difficulties faced by students and teachers in reaching campus, National College of Arts (NCA) declared a holiday on Friday. However, Pir Mehar Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University and Fatima Jinnah University along with a number of other schools and colleges will remain open on Friday.

NCA Director Dr Nadeem Omer Tarrar confirmed that no classes would be held at the college on Friday. “The office would remain open,” he said.

Spokesman for the Arid Agriculture University adjacent to Shamsabad Double Road, Musa Kaleem, said classes would be held on Friday, as per schedule. “We understand students and teachers are finding it difficult to reach campus but the university cannot close for this reason,” he said.

Commissioner Zahid Saeed told Dawn that neither the local administration nor the Punjab Education Department have announced a holiday on Friday. “A section of the road was closed for reconstruction of the Murree Road. If we worked on one side of the road at a time, it would take a whole week so we decided to close the road and complete the work in three days. The traffic police was asked to divert the traffic from the 6th Road to Faizabad towards Double Road to I.G Principal Road,” he said.

He said the RDA was also planning to close the section of Murree Road from Committee Chowk to Naz Cinema in the coming days, for reconstruction. He said it has not yet been decided if the road would be closed partially or completely.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2015

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