Traders, office workers and businessman, especially in the Gulberg area, remained worried over how they would be conducting their affairs until the departure of the World XI cricket team, which is due to leave the country after their final game later this week on Sunday, September 17.
Speaking to Pakistan Today, members of the trader committees in Hafeez Center and other plazas said that the police had been visiting these high rise buildings to inform their occupants that the area would be cordoned off for the World XI series. Traders in Hafeez center have been having emergency meetings to determine what to do, but the indecisiveness of the police have left them in a state of ignorance.
Moreover, this action from the Gulberg Police is in stark contrast with the official traffic plan issued by the CTO Office, which says that Main Boulevard and its adjacent areas will remain open for traffic while FC College and Liberty are to act as temporary parking spots. Because of the plan, FC college and other educational institutions will remain closed for another week, but it is not clear whether businesses and offices will be allowed to operate in this period.
Speaking to Pakistan Today, Gulberg DSP Nasir Bajwas was evasive and later did not respond despite repeated attempts to reach him. However the traders’ communities held that their plazas had been personally visited by police officials, who had told them that the area would be closed off to the public.
Confusion remained due to the contradictory stances of the traffic police and Gulberg Police on the matter, as people with their offices and businesses in the area remain out of the loop over how the next week will affect their places of work, and whether it will affect it all.
