LAHORE: The protest by lawyers for the last three days on The Mall continued to make an alarming impact on the traffic pressure, making the lives of the people a living hell.

Particularly, the localities including Lakshmi Chowk, Mozang Adda, Lytton Road, Lower Mall, Chauburji, GPO Chowk, Regal Chowk, Davies Road, some parts of Ichhra, Shadman and other adjoining areas are witnessing day-long traffic congestion.

Hundreds of lawyers closed down a section of The Mall near High Court Chowk and another roads leading to the Lytton Road and Safanwala Chowk.

They are staging a sit-in against the conviction of a member of the Punjab Bar Council (PbBC) on a contempt charge.

Hundreds of motorists used to get stuck on the roads of these areas daily while the deployment of traffic wardens failed to bring about any relief for the citizens and the road users.

The business activities have also come to a standstill besides routine life, according to the people living in the above-mentioned areas.

“We are facing a great deal of inconvenience,” Asjad Ali, a resident of Lytton Road, told media persons.

He said the road leading to the Lytton Road and Jain Mandar from Mozang used to remain choked daily due to the traffic mess.

He said the commercial vehicles also use the same road due to the closure of the Chauburji intersection in the wake of construction work.

Similarly, he said, the motorists coming from The Mall also use the same route to reach their destinations.

“Consequently, the traffic volume on the Lytton Road has increased manifold”, he said adding that thousands of residents of these areas have almost been restricted to their homes during the last three days or so.

To a question, he said, ‘heavy’ deployment of traffic wardens has been made to facilitate the motorists but they are unable to bring about any ease because of huge vehicular movement.

The continuing protest on The Mall has also hampered traffic flow on Jail Road, the canal and the Gulberg main boulevard.

The situation is also not different to that reported in other parts of city where long queues of the vehicles were witnessed almost daily at Kalma Chowk, Samanabad, Shah Alam Chowk and Lahore Bridge.

The traffic police officials said the [vehicular] mess in these areas was reported due to various construction projects.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2023