PESHAWAR, July 21: The visit of prime minister to Peshawar and rainwater accumulated on roads affected the flow of traffic in the city and caused great inconvenience to the citizens here on Monday.

The rain, which continued for not more than 30 minutes, on Monday morning exposed the performance of the city managers as due to the faulty sewerage system most of the main roads were inundated in the metropolis.In some areas the stagnant rainwater affected the traffic system and people, specially pedestrians faced great hardships in the low-lying areas.

The areas where people complained of stagnant rainwater included Sethi Town, Ghani Colony, Lahori Gate, Kohati Gate, Sikandarpura, Nishtarabad, and Civil Quarters.

The worst affected area was the vegetable market where walking on foot became nearly impossible. The traders and shopkeepers faced great problems in shifting different items from one place to another.

Residents of the affected areas said that it had become a routine that in case of even a light rain the sewage submerged the roads and caused great problems for the people.

An official of the sanitary department of Town-I requesting anonymity told Dawn that the entire sewerage system in the city had collapsed and needed to be replaced but the government was least bothered to allocate funds for the purpose.

He said in some areas of the old city the sewage was overflowing the roads and streets, but the concerned officials of Town-I were not paying heed to the issue. Efforts were made to contact the district nazim for comments, but he could not be contacted.Meanwhile, the traffic police had closed all the roads leading to Governor’s House and NWFP Assembly because of the visit of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to the city.

The traffic coming from both the sides of Hayatabad, Karkhano Markets and Haji Camp General Bus Stand was diverted at different intersections towards Kohat Road and Ring Road. In some areas close to the Governor’s House even the pedestrians were also not allowed to walk on the road.

The police had forced people to remove their vehicles from road in front of all the buildings on the route from airport to Governor’s House in order to avert any possible attack on the convoy of the prime minister.

People complained of the misbehaviour of police personnel, who reportedly did not allow even the ambulances to ply on road from Saddar to Peshawar Press Club.