KARACHI, Dec 18: Citizens are facing great hardships on a daily basis, as heavy goods trailers are openly flouting a ban on their entry to the city before 11pm, causing gridlocks and accidents on major thoroughfares of the city.

The worst-affected roads include Shahrah-i-Pakistan, main North Nazimabad Road, Shahrah Ibn-i-Seena, a section of Rashid Minhas Road and their adjoining arteries. Unfortunately, the traffic personnel deployed on these roads merely act as silent spectators.

This violation of the ban adds to the problems of motorists and area residents especially at a time when a track of the busy Shahrah-i-Pakistan (from Aisha Manzil to Sohrab Goth traffic intersections) and another from Aisha Manzil to Tahir Villa roundabout, off Shahrah-i-Pakistan) had been ploughed for construction.

With Eidul Azha approaching fast, the situation has further aggravated because in addition to the regular traffic, thousands of other vehicles, mostly vans and pick-ups carrying sacrificial animals from the cattle market set up at Super Highway, have also started plying on city roads particularly Shahrah-i-Pakistan.

Such a heavy flow of vehicular traffic on the ploughed Shahrah-i-Pakistan has resulted in the death of a young female pillion rider when she was crushed under the wheels of a goods trailer which was moving towards Shahrah-i-Pakistan from a narrow street of Federal B Area, near Hussainabad.

As both the traffic intersections (Aisha Manzil and Water Pump) remain blocked with vehicular traffic moving to and from Super Highway and Karimabad on Shahrah-i-Pakistan, vehicular traffic meant for different blocks of Federal B Area, North Nazimabad and Gulshan-i-Iqbal comes to a grinding halt after reaching the two intersections and remain stranded for a long durations.

Apart from Shahrah-i-Pakistan, there are at least 12 more major arteries where vehicles remain stuck up for quite some time owing to the ongoing uplift activities.

There are at least five city roads where a single track has been used for two-way traffic, which include main University Road (from Gulshan Town Administration’s Office to New Town police station also from Jail traffic intersection to New Town roundabout); main Shahrah-i-Pakistan (from Aisha Manzil to Sohrab Goth intersections) and from Aisha Manzil to Tahir Villa roundabout, off Shahrah-i-Pakistan; Altaf Ali Barelvi Road (from Sindhi Hotel to Askari Park); Shahrah-i-Orangi (from Banaras Chowk to Orangi Town’s Chowrangi No 5) and Fakharuddin Valika Road (from Habib Chowrangi to Siddik Sons Chowrangi).

In addition to the above mentioned roads, the other major arteries of the city which are under-construction and where improper diversions or alternative routes have been provided include Rashid Minhas Road (from Drive-Inn Cinema to Jauhar Mor), Jauhar Chowrangi Road where work is under way to install traffic signals after reducing the width of the roundabout; Martin Road (from Teen Hatti to PIB Colony), Kashmir Road/Shahrah Quaideen; Shah Waliullah Road at KBR to Nagan Chowrangi; Rashid Minhas Road/Allama Shabbir Usmani Road where construction of a flyover over Gulshan Chowrangi is currently being carried out.