GUJRAT: Long queues of trucks and trailers can still seen on both sides of the bridge on river Chenab on the GT Road near Gujrat which had been blocked by the authorities for the last three days by digging a trench and placing containers to prevent the banned Tehrik-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) followers from marching towards Islamabad.

The local authorities have dug out yet another trench near the old bridge on Chenab that had been closed for vehicles and abandoned for the last three decades.

There were media reports that the interior minister had ordered removal of all obstacles on the GT Road as an agreement had been reached with the banned religious party that its activists would end their march by Tuesday.

A senior administrative official said the government had yet not issued any directions to open the bridge as the TLP ‘long march’ participants were still camping at Muridke. He added that the situation might get clear after “successful” negotiations between the government and the TLP leadership.

Meanwhile, strict security measures are still in place at the points of blockades near the toll plazas on the GT Road where heavy contingents of police and Rangers have been deployed since Friday last.

Some drivers and helpers of the heavy vehicles stuck in the queues near Chenab toll plaza said they had been waiting for the road to open for the last three days.

The road blockade has also affected the industrial activities in Gujrat and its adjoining industrial town of Wazirabad.

However, the cars, passenger vans, coaches and buses have been using the alternate route via Jalalpur Jattan’s Shahbazpur Bridge on Chenab to approach Sialkot-Lahore motorway to avoid the mess on the GT Road.

Some locals who routinely use Shahbazpur bridge complain that the single-track road in Sambrial Tehsil had been a cause of slow pace of traffic due to which the travel time has increased by an hour or so.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2021