KARACHI, Dec 22: The city witnessed a worst kind of traffic mess on various roads on Thursday owing to a political procession and because of the movement of the president Pervez Musharraf. Commuters and motorists faced hardships as police blocked roads and diverted traffic.

The most terrible situation was witnessed in Saddar and adjoining localities and on Sharea Faisal where motorists made long queues and impatiently waited for hours.

The traffic police disappeared after their protocol duty terminated. This aggravated the situation, and traffic remained stuck on various roads and thoroughfares till night.

Traffic jams were also witnessed in Liaquatabad, Nazimabad, Garden, Soldier Bazaar, Nishtar Road, University Road, and other areas as the police had blocked all roads leading to Purani Numaish as a procession against Kalabagh Dam was taken out.

A motorist said that between Drigh Road and the city centre on Sharea Faisal, he noticed law enforcers on either side of the road and they had even blocked one lane of the opposite carriageway.

As he reached Nursery overhead bridge, the law-enforcers all of a sudden blocked the main road and diverted traffic on the bridge.

The sudden movement of law enforcers was incomprehensible, but later it transpired that the exercise was carried out to give a safe passage to the president’s motorcade.

He said on Sharea Faisal he saw water tankers blocking public passage. The disturbance in the traffic flow caused traffic chaos on link roads.

Similarly, motorists and public transport drivers could not use M A Jinnah Road owing to anti-Kalabagh dam procession.

The traffic coming from S.M. Taufeeq Road in Liaquatabad, and Nawab Siddique Alikhan Road in Gulbahar was diverted to Nishtar Road where vehicles got stuck in the deluge of traffic.

The situation could not be improved even after the termination of the procession and the president protocol was over. The traffic disorder on various roads remained for hours as the traffic police disappeared.

The movement of traffic could not normalize till night and people remained stuck on various roads.

The worst hit were ambulances as the traffic mismanagement and chaos did not allow ambulances to carry patients to hospitals.

The JPMC, the National Institute of Child Health, the Kidney Centre and the National Institute of Cardio-Vascular Diseases are located in the close vicinity and due to traffic mess on Sharea Faisal in the evening caused sufferings to patients in ambulances.

A spokesman for the traffic police defended his department, and said that the traffic police followed the rules while making security arrangements for VVIPs.

He said that the drivers of private and public vehicles are also to be blamed as they do not cooperate with the traffic police. They should demonstrate patience while driving on the road.