MURREE: Poor planning is one of the main reasons behind the traffic mess witnessed in Murree during the Eid days.

According to police data, around 210,000 vehicles entered the hill station during Eid holidays up till Monday, choking Murree which has a parking capacity of only 3,500 vehicles.

Thousands of tourists visited the scenic areas of Murree and its adjoining areas, with long queues of vehicles forming a beeline on roads leading to the hill station. The town, which was developed by the British, is a popular tourist destination, however due to thousands of vehicles entering every year, especially during holidays, traffic gets difficult to manage.

“We manage traffic with dedication and ensure it keeps moving, but I do agree, parking is a major issue in the town,” said spokesperson for Traffic Police Murree Muzamil Abbasi.

Speaking to Dawn, he said during Eid holidays (Wednesday to Sunday) 197,000 vehicles entered Murree and another 12,000 on Monday, adding that 161,000 vehicles exited the hill station.

This year, tourists have been rushing to the hilly area to seek relief from high humidity, disturbing traffic on all roads of Murree, which lack the capacity to handle so many vehicles. Besides main Murree, tourists have been thronging Kanair Pul on Kohala bridge via Bhurban Road and through Aliot Phagwari Road.

“Murree is a very beautiful place; we are enjoying here but the snail’s pace of traffic is something that is a major inconvenience,” a tourist, Waseem Khan, said.

A source in Murree administration said there were 284 hotels in the town, but most did not have the required parking facility. He said ideally, each hotel in accordance with the room capacity should offer parking, but due to poor planning and weak regulatory checks, they do not provide this facility.

Another official said Murree was developed by the British and since then, roads that lead to The Mall had not been expanded in accordance with the need of the hour.

He said in the past, the Punjab government made several announcements to develop parking plazas in various areas, including Jika Gali, near Jinnah Hall and one near the Commissioner House, but the government failed to translate this announcement into reality.

When contacted, Murree Hotel Association President Haji Khalil Abbasi said the body had been requesting the government to resolve the parking issue as hotels built decades ago did not have the space to provide parking.

“The government should therefore construct a parking plaza near Jinnah Hall which seems to be the only solution to the burgeoning traffic mess in Murree,” he added.

“Building a parking plaza is not a big deal for the government; if there is an issue of funds, the project should be executed under the Built Operate Transfer (BOT) basis,” Mr Abbasi said, adding that during the Eid holidays, around 50pc of the tourists could not reach hotels due to the traffic chaos and had to turn back.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2021