KARACHI, Jan 3: The city witnessed worst traffic jams on different arteries and thoroughfares on Monday due to the closure of the roads which Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was to pass trough.

Many of the roads falling in the prime minister's route were closed well before his arrival. Motorists and passengers of public transport means suffered a lot due to the uncalled for action taken by the traffic police. The traffic jams at many places persisted for hours.

The worst-hit arteries were the roads around Merewether Tower, M. A. Jinnah Road from Tibet Centre to Purani Numaish, Aga Khan III Road and Shahrah-i-Liaquat where hundreds of vehicles remained stranded following closure of some main arteries to facilitate the prime minister's safe movement.

Passengers of public transport means are already perturbed by the ongoing development work for which one of the two tracks of Nawab Siddique Ali Khan Road in Gulbahar, and Jehangir Road have been dug up and closed to normal traffic.

Traffic jams at all the diversion points close to these roads, as well as those leading to these intersections, have become order of the day. Day-time movement of heavy vehicles within the city limits has also added to the miseries of motorists.

The traffic police, instead of managing and regulating the flow of traffic, resort to switching off traffic signals at various affected intersections and leave the area, leaving the stranded motorists and commuters in a fix. This results in a traffic chaos at various points and leads to prolonged jams.

The vehicles coming from Sir Shah Mohammad Suleiman Road, Jail Chowrangi and New M. A. Jinnah Road suffer a similar situation every day. On Monday, traffic jam along S. M. Taufeeq Road in Liaquatabad took continued for several hours.

Heavy vehicles, in violation of the rule under which their day-time movement is banned, had caused stiff clogging and no traffic police personnel was there to help clear the road.

Some of those stranded in the deluge were heard condemning traffic police for, what they believed, receiving illegal gratification on a weekly basis from drivers or operators of heavy vehicles and public transport means for ignoring violation of traffic rules.

"They would never pardon a motorist or motorcyclist for even a minor mistake because he would not oblige them this way,'' one of them said loudly. Another motorist remarked: "The prime minister is provided stringent security at the cost of the citizens' comfort and free movement.

Similar troubles are caused to us whenever our president visits the city. When our leaders fear so much of their lives, and they have to take along an army of bodyguards, police and rangers, why do they claim that law and order is under control?"