KARACHI: Commuters and road users experienced severe transportation problems due to protests and rallies taken out in the city against power and water shortages and several other rallies over host of issues, including marches in support of Palestine, in the metropolis on Saturday.

The protest demonstrations in various localities triggered prolonged traffic jams on M.A. Jinnah Road near the Numaish intersection, Sharea Faisal on Karsaz, Teen Talwar in Clifton, University Road near NED University and Preedy Street in Saddar, causing immense inconvenience to commuters.

Police said a protest demonstration was staged at Jinnah Ground near the mausoleum of the Quaid-i-Azam against power shortages and water crisis, which forced traffic authorities to divert traffic onto alternative routes.

Another protest rally on a similar issue was held on Preedy Street near Shahabuddin Market.

A traffic police spokesperson said that because of the protest demonstrations, vehicular traffic was diverted from Peoples Chowrangi to Society Signal and from Saddar Dawakhan to Lucky Star.

The officials said a rally by a political party was also arranged in favour of Palestine at Teen Talwar in Clifton. Because of that rally, traffic was diverted towards Cantonment Station from Hoshang Chowk and Ziauddin Ahmed Road.

Similarly, another rally was taken out at Karsaz on main Sharea Faisal, which also adversely affected the smooth flow of traffic.

Moreover, vehicles were also checked on main University Road for security near Safari Park due to a programme at NED University, which also disrupted the flow of the traffic on the main artery.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2023