RAWALPINDI: Friday was another bad day for the residents of Rawalpindi as main roads leading to Islamabad and towards Grand Trunk Road were closed due to the protests of the PTI in Islamabad and Lahore.

The suspension of mobile phone service in the twin cities created more problems for the people. Moreover, the metro bus service was also suspended.

The administration and police sealed the Murree Road and surrounding areas and all the links road to avoid any untoward situation. Due to this, the movement of the residents of Raja Bazaar, Naya Mohallah, Purana Qila, Iqbal Road, Chittian Hattian, Gowalmandi, Usmanpura, Moti Bazaar, Sarafa Bazaar and adjoining areas remained restricted to their streets.

Patients also faced problems in reaching government hospitals, including Holy Family Hospital in Satellite Town, Benazir Bhutto Hospital on Murree Road and Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital in Raja Bazaar. As these hospitals are located in and around Murree Road, people could not reach the healthcare facilities.

On the other hand, all bazaars and markets remained open in Saddar, Commercial Market, Tench Bhatta and other areas. Though roads within the cantonment and city areas were open, there was thin traffic as Murree Road from Marrir Chowk was closed with containers.

Suspension of mobile phone, metro bus services add to citizens’ hardship

The residents of Rawalpindi had already experienced road blockades in the last two months, they had arranged edibles and medicines one day before the expected closure. The metro bus service between Rawalpindi and Islamabad remained suspended.

A senior official of the district administration told Dawn that for security purposes the metro bus service was closed on Friday to avoid any incident. He said that all roads leading to Islamabad were also closed by containers so no one could enter the federal capital.

He said that for the safety of bus stations, police and security guards had also been deployed as last year protesters set two bus stations on fire and the government had to spend millions to repair it. “Daily Rs3.5 million have been lost due to this closure of metro bus service,” he said.

He said that as many as 100,000 passengers daily travelled between Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Due to the closure of metro bus service, commuters faced trouble.

It may be mentioned here that in the last two months, Metro Bus Service was suspended more than eight times due to protests by PTI, Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan and Jamaat-i-Islami in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. However, Rehmanabad and Chandani Chowk stations were already closed for the last three days for renovation work.

Though there was no public holiday in the twin cities, most of the educational institutions and private offices remained closed. All government offices were open but the attendance was thin as the employees faced problems in reaching their workplaces due to the closure of roads.

There was also a shortage of water in many parts of the garrison city where people relied on private tankers. In the absence of cellphone services, people could not contact tanker operators and lodged complaints with Rawalpindi, Chaklala Cantonment boards.

“It is difficult to go to office in Islamabad due to closure of roads. I tried to go to office but failed,” said Mohammad Arshad, an employee of a private office in Blue Area.

Rashid Ahmed, a resident of Ch. Bostan Khan Road, said that his daughter was studying in BCS in a private college and she had to go for her final exams. “I arranged a motorcycle from neighbours to take her to her college located in Saddar as there was no public transport,” he said.

“I was worried about the news of clash between a political party and police but thank God, the city in general remained peaceful. I didn’t allow my children to go out and all the family remained in the house,” said Nasir Raja, a resident of Usmanpura in front of Bara Market.

Imtiaz Malik, a resident of College Road, said the movement of people was restricted due to protests. “Last week, it was College Road where the residents faced tear gas shelling. The government should allocate a separate place for protesters to record their protest as we suffered a lot,” he said.

Sharjeel Mir, Rawalpindi Traders Association President, said that traders already faced financial crises and PTI workers and leaders staged protests and government closed the roads. “How we can do business in this situation,” he said.

He said that traders had requested the PTI to stop protests during the visit of foreign delegations to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s summit in Islamabad.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2024