LAHORE: Intermittent rain added a rare enthusiasm to Eidul Fitr festivity in the Punjab capital, giving a good opportunity not only to Lahorites but also to the residents of adjoining cities to throng parks and other public places with families.

Eateries at Gowalmandi and Fort Road Food Street, Lakshmi Chowk, Muslim Town Mor on Wahdat Road, Moon and Karim block markets of Iqbal Town also attracted a good number of customers, especially for breakfast and dinner, on the second and third day of Eid.

Restaurants on MM Alam Road, Liberty and Main Market besides other parts of Gulberg, Johar Town Main Boulevard, The Mall and Fortress Stadium earned huge profits by offering Chinese, continental and fast food.

The newly-constructed Azadi Chowk near Minar-i-Pakistan attracted a record number of visitors, also from cities like Kasur, Okara, Sheikhupura and Gujranwala. Some families from Muridke came to the place on tractor-trolleys in the absence of adequate public transport on inter-city routes.

The Lahore Zoo remained a favourite place of Lahorites, especially children, who love to spend holidays while enjoying swings and watching animals. The zoo witnessed rare turnout of middle class families, but many of them returned disappointed due to long queues for tickets on the second and third day of Eid when more than 100,000 people visited the place according to rough estimates.

Traffic remained jammed near two gates of the zoo due to the crowd while the situation was no different on roads near Bagh-i-Jinnah, Lahore Fort, Museum, Jallo Park, Sozo Park, Jilani Park, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Model Town Park.

Shortage of public transport on roads caused great inconvenience to people in reaching the recreational places from their homes and back home. Motorcycle and other rickshaw and taxi drivers exploited the situation and charged high fares from the ‘helpless’ citizens.

A large number of people from other cities visited Lahore to see historical places. They faced the same problem of shortage of public transport and high fares of rickshaws and taxis.

On the second last day of the holidays on Thursday, people started coming back to Lahore from their hometowns after celebrating Eid with their families that resulted in traffic jams near Azadi Chowk, Thokar Niaz Beg, Yateem Khana Chowk and Samanabad Mor where some youth were seen assisting the traffic wardens, especially in the evening.

The Canal Bank Road and the Ring Road proved to be the perfect velodromes for motorcyclists who raced there throughout the three holidays without any check.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2014