KARACHI, April 28: Commuters had a nerve-racking experience on Monday when they got stuck up in a traffic jam on the main Maripur Road for hours.

The dilapidated road from Gulbai crossing to the main gate of PAF Masroor Base and work on the Lyari expressway were the main contributors to the traffic congestion on Maripur road as thousands of vehicles, mainly trucks and trawlers, moved at a snail’s pace.

Residents of Maripur village, Grex village, Machchar colony, Mohammadi colony, Agra Taj and Liaquat colonies and many others had to walk along the Maripur road for several kilometres to reach their destinations.

The worst-affected were the students, patients and elderly citizens, who remained stuck up in the congestion in the sizzling hot day.

A spokesman of the Karachi Goods Carrier Association told Dawn that it was the worst ever traffic jam on the Maripur road, though the traffic congestion had become a routine matter since the construction work on the Lyari expressway was initiated.

He suggested that if an approach road was constructed on the right end of Baba Pir Bukhari shrine near the new truck stand, the traffic could move from Mauripur road to the truck stand bypassing Gulbai.

He said that the problem could be solved to a great deal if a link road from Dalda Ghee Mill was constructed for giving passage to the traffic going to Balochistan.

DIG Traffic Yameen Khan said that the pillar of the Lyari Expressway was being built at Gulbai, which was the reason for the traffic jam.

He said that people had been advised to take alternate route. “I have relayed the messages through radio and also advised the people through press to take alternate routes,” he added.

He was of the view that the problem would persist as long as the construction work was underway.