RAWALPINDI: Gridlocks were witnessed in Raja Bazaar, on Murree Road, Airport Road and other arteries due to a protest rally by a religious party and closure of roads for a match between Pakistan and New Zealand cricket teams on Saturday.

Tehreek Nafaz Fiqh-i-Jafariya (TNFJ) staged the protest rally against demolition of holy shrines at Jannatul Baqi in Saudi Arabia a century ago.Processions were taken out from different areas of the city that culminated at Imam Bargah Col Maqbool Hussain.

Murree Road from Chandni Chowk to Faizabad was choked due to the cricket match during which Double Road and other link roads were blocked by the police.

This resulted traffic jams on Murree Road, Liaquat Road, Saddar, Iqbal Road, College Road, Kashmiri Bazaar, Circular Road, Asghar Mall Road, Commercial Market, Fifth Road and Sixth Road.

“Trafficcongestion has become an everyday phenomenon, compelling wardens to switch offtrafficsignals and regulatetrafficmanually,” said Mohammad Imran, a commuter.

Raja Khalid, a commuter on Murree Road, said thatthetraffic jams had become a routine in the garrison city and the district administration failed to ensure traffic engineering of roads. He saidtheresidents of areas likeCitySaddar Road, Ratta Amral Road, Gawalmandi and Kashmiri Bazaar sufferedthemost fromtrafficmismanagement.

“It took an hour to reach Benazir Bhutto Hospital from Liaquat Bagh. It is the inability ofthetrafficpolice otherwisetheprotest did not disturbthetraffic,” said Nasir Akber.

When contacted, a warden deployed at Committee Chowk said closure of the roads due to the protest rally and as part of security arrangements for cricket match forced vehicles to move at a snail’s pace. He saidthat on weekends the traffic volume increased in the main bazaars and markets which also led to traffic jams on various roads.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2023