As the holy month of Ramadan is fast approaching in scorching weather, the traffic police seem to have failed to chalk out a foolproof mechanism to regulate flow of traffic in the metropolis. On Monday, the commuters faced severe hardships due to massive gridlock on various city roads particularly on busy M A Jinnah Road, Saddar, Soldier Bazaar, II Chundrigar Road and adjacent thoroughfares.
Long queues of vehicles, including passenger buses, cars, motorcycles, etc., were witnessed on the major arteries throughout the day as traffic police personnel seemed helpless to regulate the flow of the traffic, particularly in the peak hours from 5pm to 9pm.
The paramilitary Rangers personnel were also deployed at certain places to help the traffic police in regulating the traffic.
Police said the pressure on roads was primarily due to the snap checking by the paramilitary Rangers in different locations of the city to maintain law and order.
They said the traffic movement will return to normalcy once the snap checking is stopped. Excavation of roads by the civic authorities also caused traffic jam issues in Saddar and adjacent areas while the commuters were seen regulating traffic movement at Saddar and Soldier Bazaar areas, on their own.
The blockages were also witnessed on Hub River Road, near Karachi Port, Keamari, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Sohrab Goth, Malir and Korangi road and other areas.