KARACHI: Worst-ever gridlock on almost all major thoroughfares of the provincial metropolis stuck Karachiits for hours, leaving them cursing their fate and the inefficient traffic police.
However, traffic police blamed Christmas shopping spree for worst traffic jam. The traffic police said that shoppers hit markets in large numbers following Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf shutdown on Friday followed by Chehlum closure.
Long rows of vehicles were seen stood bumper-to-bumper for hours on all main roads including Shahra-e-Faisal, MA Jinnah Road, II Chundrigar Road, Shaheed-e-Millat Road, University Road near Hassan Square, Korangi Road, Shahra-e-Pakistan and Rashid Minhas Road.
The traffic snarl exposed the inefficiency and incompetence of traffic police who failed to make their presence felt in term of facilitating the vehicular traffic flow.
Stranded on the roads for hours, many vehicles exhausted their fuel, causing more miseries to their owners.
Several ambulances were trapped and VVIP movement further compounded the problem.
