A water pipeline burst in Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of Karachi and protests on Shahra-e-Faisal and Karachi Press Club resulted in severe traffic jams throughout the city and blocked major arteries of the metropolis on Saturday.
The burst of main water pipeline which passes through Aziz Bhatti Park near Federal Urdu University resulted in flooding of University Road with up to two feet of water standing on the main road, this caused a huge traffic jam on Gulshan and Gulistan-e-Jauhar areas.
Various roads and areas including Lasbela, KDA, Karsaz, Hassan Square, University Road, Shara-e-Faisal, Johar More, Star Gate, Stadium Road, Tariq Road, Guru Mandir were blocked due to the congested traffic, which continued for several hours.
Officials reported that the water supply was shut down from the Dhabeji pumping station. The pipeline will have to be repaired, they added.
Meanwhile, other parts of Karachi also saw traffic jams due to protests by sugar cane growers against the powerful sugar mill mafia of Sindh.
The sugarcane growers who had gathered at Karachi Press Club to draw the attention of the media towards their plight, later attempted to move towards Sindh CM House so as to register their protest.
The attempt was, however, thwarted by the police that not only resorted to baton charging but also used water cannon to disperse the protestors.
The police intervention led to absolute chaos and massive traffic jams on Abdullah Haroon Road and other thoroughfares in the vicinity.
Karachi has no proper road management system, which causes trouble for commuters in emergency situations. Traffic police, additionally, is unable to inform the public about alternate routes in a timely manner.
