KARACHI, Dec 2: Traffic jams have become a regular feature in Lea Market area, causing air and noise pollution, a survey shows.

The situation is aggravating day-by-day because of rapid increase in number of vehicles as authorities seem to have no plan to regulate the traffic and check roadside encroachments.

Almost every building around Lea Market has a godown or some storage facility and a large number of goods trucks enter the area for loading or unloading purposes. One can observe the activity all the day and even at night.

Moreover, there is a wholesale milk market, and pick-ups/ trucks bringing milk from various areas are seen parked on the roundabout, blocking the movement of traffic.

A number of buses and mini-buses either terminate or start their journey at Lea Market.

Besides, a number of local buses and mini-buses make their intermediate stops here or pass through the Lea Market. The situation has turned the whole area into a congested area.

As the number of buses is rapidly increasing, the space for parking is becoming more and more insufficient. All spaces previously used for parking purposes now have buildings on them, leaving no space for buses and other vehicles.

Local buses and mini-buses terminating here ply from Landhi, Malir, Quaidabad, Gadap and Korangi etc. All these buses are parked on the road-sides which is one of the main reasons for traffic congestion.

Moreover, buses for Thatta, Sujawal, Sehwan start their journey from the Lea Market. There is a small open plot available for parking of these buses which has become insufficient.

Besides, buses arrive or depart here from various cities of Balochistan and NWFP, including Hub, Lasbella, Khuzdar, Turbat Gwadar and Peshawar.

For a decade, the number of buses has increased manifold as a large number of workers from various parts of Karachi come here for their journey to Hub and Bela. These buses park at Sheedi village Road, Chawkiwara Road and now they have taken over the old tonga stand also.

Residents blame the municipal officials and the police for giving transporters a free hand who have defaced the whole area by establishing bus stands in the surrounding of the market.

Adding to the people’s woes, mushroom growth of encroachers consisting of cart-pushers, footpath venders, stalls, cabins and workshops, compound the miseries of pedestrians.

Last year, an operation clean-up was launched in the market area, but the encroachers returned again thanks to the blessings of police and other officials.