Roads choked in capital as people pour in from nearby towns

Islamabad: All major roads were literally chocked during Eid days, especially on Sunday and Monday, due to the influx of holidaymakers from adjoining areas.

Massive traffic jams were reported from the afternoon to night as the people thronged parks and recreational spots. The pleasant weather caused by intermittent rainfall contributed to the influx of visitors to recreational places.

Long queues of vehicles, including cars, vans and coaches, were seen on IJP Road, Margalla Road, 7th and 9th avenues and Murree Road.

To avoid frustration at the prolonged traffic jams, some people parked the cars, vans and buses along the roadside kilometers ahead of their destinations, especially Faisal Masjid, Damn-i-Koh, Marghzar Zoo, Lake View Park and Pir Sohawa, and covered long distances by foot.

“I’ve been stuck in traffic for around 45 minutes but see little chance to reach Faisal Masjid soon. The holidaymakers have made a mad rush for recreational places across the city,” said Muslim Khan of Rawalpindi traveling in own car with family.

Heated exchanges were seen among motorists at some places over wrong parking and minor crashes. Modern shopping malls, especially Centraurus, attracted large crowds of such visitors. Though the traffic police were deployed at major roads, the movement on vehicles was slow. Since there were few public transport vehicles on the road, cabbies overcharged commuters at will.

The police insisted that the roads were crowded mostly due to the influx of non-locals. “Most of the local residents have gone either to hometowns or on excursion to hill stations like Murree, Abbottabad, Swat, Kaghan and Naran and so, the crowds you see on the roads are mostly of non-locals,” said a traffic cop.