RAWALPINDI: Hundreds of vehicles, including ambulances, remained stuck in gridlocks on Murree Road on Monday.

Being stuck in a traffic jam is not unusual in the city. It is a common sight across the city which is causing frustration among the commuters.

Even though the citizens have faced the traffic problem for over three months, Regional Police Officer Mohammad Wisal Fakhar Sultan Raja on November 16 directed the traffic police to improve the situation within three days.

However, after the lapse of the three-day deadline, the RPO forgot his directives and the traffic police ignored it. But the ultimate sufferers have been the commuters who have been going through the experience on a daily basis.

On Monday, all roads linking to Murree Road and Islamabad Expressway were jammed.

The citizens are of the view that the civic agencies have not been doing any research regarding traffic problems and lacked vision to resolve the issue. “Deploying wardens and lifting vehicles is not a permanent solution to the traffic mess. It needs a vision and research which is lacking,” said a senior citizen who worked abroad for several years.

Mohammad Bilal, a resident of Bahria Town, who was going to 6th Road with his family to attend a wedding ceremony, remained stuck for more than an hour at Rawal Road and reached his destination after the conclusion of the function.

“It would have been much better had I stayed home instead of being stuck in the traffic jam,” he said.

Another commuter, Raja Javed, said it took him over an hour to reach Saddar from Chandni Chowk as he remained stuck in the traffic jam on Murree Road from 5pm to 6pm.

These were not the only commuters who complained about ill-planning of the civic authorities. Almost 90pc of citizens who either travel in public transport or use their own vehicles have been criticising the civic agencies.

According to traffic authorities, they had been receiving scores of phone calls from citizens, asking how they would get rid of the traffic issues.

Some were asking how many months would be required to complete the recarpeting of the one-and-a-half kilometre stretch of Rawal Road which has already taken four months.

Published in Dawn December 27th, 2016