LAHORE: Protests by the Young Doctors Association and employees of the Punjab Rural Support Programme gridlocked traffic on city’s main roads the whole Thursday through.

The YDA blocked roads to press the provincial government to fulfill its promise of implementing the service structure whereas the PRSP employees staged a sit-in at the 7-Club intersection against alleged winding up of the project.

The YDA activists gathered outside Mayo Hospital Chowk, General Hospital, Children’s Hospital, Lady Willingdon Hospital, Jinnah Hospital and the Punjab Institute of Cardiology and blocked the roads.

The traffic mess was compounded owing to construction on various roads in the provincial capital. Countless vehicles remained stuck on the The Mall, at Davies Road, Shadman Chowk and adjoining arteries for hours. Several motorists tried to use arteries even streets of the residential areas but with little success.

Deplorably the traffic wardens were found absent from many roads and intersections.

Patients, especially those using ambulances to reach hospitals, bore the brunt of the situation.

The Canal Road also faced traffic problem throughout the day given that its widening project from Doctors Hospital to Thokar Niaz Baig is already under way. Trees on both sides of the canal are being hewed these days.

The Mall Road remained blocked for several hours when hundreds of PRSP employees staged a sit-in at the 7-Club intersection against the Punjab government’s decision to close the programme. The protesters including women from 15 districts of the province gathered there and said it was strange that the government was doing away with the PRSP and basic health units which were doing a great job in rural areas.

There were reports about detention of three PRSP employees. The protesters dispersed after officials assured them that they would arrange their meeting with the chief minister.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2016