LAHORE: The sit-ins of transport owners at Babu Sabu Interchange and Shahdara against high rates at toll plazas on Ring Road proved a nightmare for hundreds of motorists on Monday who remained stuck not only on the Ring Road but also on the arteries around it till late night.

Arranged by the Pakistan Mini Mazda Association, the protest started in the morning. The transport owners who came with their heavy vehicles, including trailers, mini-trucks and trucks, blocked the roads both at the Babu Sabu and Shahdara.

The closure of the roads at the two major entry/exit points of the provincial capital also affected the traffic badly on many other adjoining arteries which remained packed throughout the day.

The protesters were charged with anger after the government allowed unprecedented hike in toll, setting aside concerns of the transport owners who have to frequent the roads. Hundreds of vehicles entering the city, including those having families, were seen stuck in the long queues around the protest site. The ambulances carrying patients also faced the same issue there as they failed to find way to reach hospitals.

The protesters raised slogans against the Punjab government, holding it responsible for the sorry state of affairs and then staged sit-ins on the road.

Addressing the protest rally, the representatives of the Pakistan Mini Mazda Association said that after making the major portion of the Ring Road functional, the government had made unprecedented increase in toll. They said the government had already banned entry of heavy traffic to the city, giving a certain time period to them for the purpose. When they started using the Ring Road to reach their destinations, the government slapped heavy fee, hitting them hard financially, the speakers said.

“Earlier, the fee for a truck to make an entry to the Ring Road was Rs30 which had now been increased to Rs70. The toll fee for a car was Rs10 which went up to Rs35, showing the scale of the government’s apathy towards the general public.”

They added that the government had established a new toll plaza at Sherakot, adding further to the problems of the transport owners and commuters who were already suffering at the hands of unprecedented increase in toll.

DIG Operations Dr Haider Ashraf and Chief Traffic Officer Rai Ijaz, who held several sessions of negotiations with the protesters, said the protesters were not ready to leave the protest until the acceptance of their demands.

The CTO said the police team had told them that the authorities were ready to abolish the Sherakot toll plaza but it required time to move a summary to the chief minister. The protesters turned down their proposal, saying these were the delaying tactics and the transporters would not leave the site till acceptance of their all legitimate demands, he added.

Mr Rai further said the protestors were demanding immediate withdrawal of the toll increased by the Punjab government for entry to the Ring Road and other major arteries of the city.

The situation had not changed at night as the protest was going on when this report was filed at 9:30pm. Some TV channels quoted protest leaders at 12.15am that their demands had been met and they were going to clear the roads.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2018