MURREE: A large number of visitors to Murree caused traffic jams, which persisted on the fourth day of Eid on Saturday.

Almost all hotels and guest houses in Murree and the Galliyat are booked until the weekend and many roads including the Expressway, the old Rawalpindi-Murree-Kashmir Highway, Bhurban Road, the road to Galliyat and Patriata and other roads to and from the hill station remained closed for hours due to heavy traffic.

The Murree Traffic Police had made arrangements in anticipation of the crowds and deployed additional wardens at various places to keep the flow of traffic smooth. However, due to the unavailability of parking spaces, more than usual tourists and heavy rains hindered traffic.

The situation was worsened by motorcyclists driving without helmets, without silencers on their bikes and violating traffic rules.

President of the Murree Traders Organisation Tufail Akhlaq, former president Abdul Hameed Abbasi and others said traders were not consulted when traffic and other plans for Eid were chalked out. They agreed that without the support and involvement of traders, the plans did not work. They said in future, all stakeholders should be taken on board.

According to RPO Fakhar Wisal Raja about 70,000 cars entered Murree in one day.

He said that because of the lack of parking spaces, it was difficult to ensure the smooth flow of traffic.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2016