Karachi faces massive traffic jams as key roads closed amid protest

KARACHI: A protest and sit-in on a major road in the city caused massive traffic jams in various areas on Thursday, resulting in severe hardship for commuters, ARY News reported.

Both tracks of the road from Gurumandir to Numaish Chowrangi are temporarily closed to traffic due to an ongoing protest, causing severe traffic congestion on the surrounding roads, and lengthy queues of vehicles.

Traffic police are diverting the traffic, with vehicles coming from Gurumandir being rerouted via the Congress 45 route to Peoples Chowrangi. Meanwhile, traffic from Peoples Chowrangi is also being diverted towards Corridor 3.

Gurumandir, Peoples Chowrangi, Jamshed Road and Jail Chowrangi are experiencing significant disruptions to traffic movement.

Additionally, Shaheed e Millat Road, Soldier Bazar, University Road and surrounding areas also witnessed heavy traffic pressure, leaving the travellers stranded and struggling to get home from work.

According to reports, commuters faced significant delays, with minutes-long journeys turning into hours-long commutes due to traffic jams.

Motorists were advised to take alternative routes and allow extra time for travel to avoid delays during these peak times. The Traffic Police are actively managing these disruptions to ensure smoother traffic flow across the city.

Earlier a report revealed today that Karachiites have paid a whopping Rs 850 million in traffic fines in 2024 for violating traffic laws.

According to the traffic police, a total of 11.57 lakh challans were issued during the year. The majority of the challans were issued for violations related to vehicle number plates, with 2.21 lakh challans and fines worth Rs 11.93 crore. Signal violations resulted in 1.96 lakh challans and fines of Rs 12.49 crore.