The passengers of public transport faced a hard time reaching their work places on Monday due to the closure of various arterial roads leading to Saddar. Passengers complained that drivers did not follow the diversions specified by the traffic department and drove into narrow streets ending in traffic gridlocks.

The traffic police, as already announced, closed M.A. Jinnah Road to vehicular traffic to facilitate religious processions on account of Youm-e-Ali. A passenger of Shiraz Coach complained that due to the closure of M.A. Jinnah Road the driver took to the narrow streets of Lines Area and did not listen to either passengers or the traffic sergeant who was telling him about the diversion.

In an effort to take a shortcut through Lines Area, he ended up in a gridlock since traffic from opposite direction obstructed his movement as he did theirs. He further said that the driver, somehow managed to get to Saddar from where he took the main road.

Meanwhile, there was also a traffic muddle on Din Muhammad Wafai Road. Consequently, public transport passengers had to get off the buses and walk distances to get to their workplaces.

The distraught commuters also complained of every single street leading to Saddar closed by parking of buses, mini-buses, water tankers and other vehicles across the roads. When contacted, Traffic Helpline ‘Rahnuma’ said that the roads leading to route of procession were completely cordoned off for security reasons in the wake of Islamabad blast. He however maintained that they kept removing obstacles from points which were crossed by the procession to restore traffic.