MUZAFFARGARH, Jan 19: The closure of the river Chenab bridge after an accident late Thursday night brought the traffic to a grinding halt. The area was cut off from parts of the upper and central Punjab.

The Chenab bridge route is one of the major arteries because the traffic from Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP use it for reaching Multan, Lahore and other parts of Punjab.

Long queues of vehicles were seen on both sides of the bridge until 3pm on Friday when the authorities allowed the traffic to move. Among the vehicles stuck in the mess were coaches carrying marriage guests and ambulances.

The family sitting in one of the ambulances said they were heading towards the Nishter Hospital Multan for treatment of a woman patient. Doctors at a rural health centre had referred them to the Nishter hospital.

Hundreds of officials and students coming from the other side of the Chenab could not reach their offices and schools in Muzaffargarh.

As the traffic jams on the bridge have become a routine, a number of people prefer to use train for Multan.

The bridge is in a dilapidated condition and whenever heavy traffic passes through it, the impact is felt with quick beats of heart. The construction of a new bridge is going on and the government says it will complete in 2008.

No traffic policeman was available in the office to respond to the queries of Dawn and a peon said the entire traffic police force was busy in restoration of traffic.