ISLAMABAD: Pleasant weather and the metro bus service drew hoards of people to the capital during Eid holidays, creating a huge traffic mess in many areas and making life difficult for staff at picnic areas.

“We received around 18,000 visitors on Monday, which is much more than the number of people who came on Sunday,” said a senior official at Islamabad Zoo.

“It was difficult to manage the crowd with women and children feeding all kinds of things to the animals,” he added.

The zoo closed at sunset but the official said that it may take staff 2-3 days to deal with the damaged plants and reckless littering around the park.

Similarly, around other picnic spots in the capital, both officials of the civic agency and traffic police were busy managing the large number of cars on Sunday and Monday.

The traffic police estimated that around 100,000 cars entered Islamabad on Sunday and an even larger number entered on Monday, with some making their way to Murree and picnic spots around the capital.

“We had devised a strategy which involved taking strict action against those performing stunts on motorbikes and those violating traffic rules,” said SSP Traffic Malik Matloob.

He said that 2,200 people were fined on Eid and Sunday.

“This discouraged young motorcyclists. However, today are main focus was on facilitating families visiting Murree or other picnic spots in Islamabad by managing traffic,” he said.

Traffic chokes were witnessed at major road intersections including Faizabad, Rawal Chowk, Lake View, Barakahu Road and Margalla Road.

“The problem is that many people visiting the capital on Eid are outsiders who do not respect the city,” said a senior official of CDA Environment Wing.

He added that a number of people were seen picking flowers from medians and green belts and stepping on flower beds while taking photographs.

The staff at Lake View Park also remained busy until the park closed at 10 pm and many complained that visitors did not cooperate, littering around the park rather than using the dustbins.

“People must be educated to not throw garbage everywhere and not destroy flowers and plants. There are over 900 dustbins in the park but there is litter everywhere,” a park official said.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2015

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