KARACHI, April 3: On Thursday the city suffered severe traffic jams on the main artery of Shahrae Faisal and at other places during the evening rush hours.

Because of VIP movement almost all the traffic signals at Shahrae Faisal were switched off and the traffic police were trying to regulate the traffic manually, facing a traffic muddle.

The traffic jams were witnessed near Hotel Metropole, at the traffic signals of Kashif Centre, Hotel Regent Plaza, Gora Qabristan, Masjid-i-Roomi, Nursery, etc. Traffic continued to move at a snail’s pace on the Sharea throughout the evening. The intersections connecting the Sharea with other arteries were also choked.

The pressure on the Sharea resulted in increased load of vehicles on the adjoining arteries such as Tipu Sultan Road, Karsaz Road and scores of lanes and bylanes of PECHS and Mohammad Ali Cooperative Housing Society. The service road along Shahrae Faisal was already closed for parking for the VIP movement.

Rashid Minhas Road also suffered a traffic jam was also witnessed as heavy traffic was being diverted away from Shahrea Faisal.

Sharah-i-Quaideen also faced an increase in traffic load, with motorists skipping the affected section of Sharea Faisal, taking the uncarpeted Lines Area road to reach Sharah-i-Quaideen and vice versa.