JHANG, May 6: The traffic police and the tehsil municipal administration, Jhang, blame each other for ever worsening traffic situation in the city.

Long hours of jams have become the order of the day in busy city areas, particularly in Ayub Chowk, situated in the downtown. The traffic police take little interest in clearing the jams and motorists have to take initiative to make adjustments to end their agony.

Ayub Chowk is the busiest place where roads from Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Multan, Bhakhar, Toba Tek Singh and Gojra converge. In the absence of a bypass or a ring road, all vehicular traffic coming from or heading towards these cities has to pass through Jhang.

This requires efficient and well-trained police force and the municipal administration to deal with the situation effectively.

Frequent traffic blockades are seen between Faisalabad Road railway crossing on one side and Adhiwal Chowk on Sargodha Road on the other side, up to the Bhakkar Road Chungi via Ayub Chowk. This vehicular jumble has practically divided the city into two parts.

Officials of the police department hold the TMA responsible for this ugly state of affairs. They blame the TMA for its failure to remove encroachments along the roads that create hurdles in the smooth flow of traffic. They also point out that some bus terminals owned by a politician and a senior bureaucrat, close to the Ayub Chowk, as the main cause of jams.

A TMA official claimed that lack of interest, inefficiency and corruption on part of the traffic police was the reason for this situation. He said there were at least five points, besides Ayub Chowk, where traffic police was required to be posted to regulate the traffic, but only a few personnel could be seen only at Ayub Chowk.