KARACHI, Aug 20: A number of roads in the city witnessed traffic jams on Friday triggered by the movement of President Pervez Musharraf who arrived here on Thursday evening.

The worst hit roads were those in Saddar and Clifton as well as Sharea Faisal which were used by the president in the morning and at afternoon. Commuters on Sharea Faisal faced hardships as the law enforcement agencies imposed a ban on parking vehicles on either side of the thoroughfare. Besides, all streets connecting Sharea Faisal were closed by the police and Rangers personnel.

Motorists in Defence and Clifton got stuck in the traffic jams on Friday morning when President visited Phase VIII of the Defence area to inaugurate a desalination plant.

A bumper to bumper traffic was seen at the Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman Road due to the VIP movement. The law enforcement agencies temporarily closed down all the petrol pumps on Sharea Faisal by installing barriers at the entrance and exit points of the filling stations.

The exercise has been in practice since Dec 25, last year when the president escaped an attempt on his life in which the suicide bombers had parked their cars at a petrol pump.

The vehicles at different points were stopped and their entry on Sharea Faisal was disallowed. People complained that they had to wait for hours only to cross the thoroughfare. Though some major intersections on Sharea Faisal were opened in the night, narrow roads opening on the artery remained closed till late night.

Police, Rangers and military police were also deployed on either side of Sharea Faisal and atop of buildings. Witnesses said that flyovers and bridges on Sharea Faisal were inspected thoroughly by bomb disposal squads and later they were declared safe for the VIP movement. After the inspection, a heavy contingent of law enforcers were deployed at and around flyovers and bridges.

People who had parked their vehicles on service roads also faced difficulties when they found their vehicles missing. The police lifted all vehicles from service roads along Sharea Faisal and dropped them at some distance in lanes and bylanes as the service roads on either side of the main artery were vacated.