PESHAWAR: The VVIP movement and protest demonstrations led to severe traffic jam on the main roads which caused hardships for motorists in the provincial metropolis on Thursday.

It was observed that on the arrival of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif the police and Frontier Constabulary personnel had blocked traffic at different places to facilitate the movement of high-ranking government officers, lawmakers and ministers.

Besides, several protest demonstrations were held on Sher Shah Suri Road outside the Governor House and MPA Hostel, which led to suspension of traffic on both lanes the road for quite some time.

The vehicles coming from city via Shoba Bazaar had to return near MPA Hostel as the protesting class-IV employees of the Civil Secretariat, Peshawar, had blocked the thoroughfare by holding banners in their hands and shouting slogans against the government for what they said its failure to upgrade them.

Another protest was held by B-Tech Engineers Association against the appointment of Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilani, vice-chancellor of the University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, as the project director of Technical University and demanded his replacement.

Police block traffic at various places to facilitate lawmakers, officers

Employees of the Workers Welfare Board also held a rally on the same road outside the Peshawar Press Club to demand reinstatement of the sacked workers and release of their salaries.

It was observed that the police did not bother to clear the road or divert the traffic to link roads and thus the commuters faced serious hardships for several hours.

The security arrangements on the arrival of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also complicated the problems.

Though his helicopter landed at the Governor House, his party workers were not allowed there directly and had to come from the Army Stadium through official transport to ensure security.

Maximum of the transport had to use the Bara Road and Ring Road and the people coming to Peshawar cantonment from city areas experienced the traffic jam. The people, including women and children, had to march on foot towards their destinations.

Tight security was seen at different checkpoints and the people were not allowed on the roads inside the cantonment. Long queues of vehicles were also seen on Bara Road near the Gulberg police station due to checking by security personnel. The main sufferers were the children of different schools. The people said that checking on Bara Road caused inconvenience to motorists because there was no alternative route for them to reach their destinations.

When contacted, traffic SSP Wahid Mehmood said that it was not his duty to regulate the protest demonstrations. “The traffic problems on Bara Road have been created due to the security checking otherwise there is no issue,” he said.

Mr Mehmood said that there was no plan for construction of new roads while the traffic volume had been increasing with each passing day. The SSP said that the Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) had also failed to fulfil its duties regarding traffic engineering and thus the issues were getting complicated. He claimed that the police personnel were active enough to effectively regulate the traffic in the district.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play