RAWALPINDI:The fruit vendors and shopkeepers have encroached the main Murree Road causing massive traffic jams impeding smooth flow traffic whereas the authorities concerned were not taking action against them.
Due to the encroachments, the traffic remained blocked at Murree Road and creates problems for the motorists and also leaving ambulances carrying serious patients stranded in the stagnated traffic.
The encroachers could also be seen on the Chungi no 22, Bara Market, Namak Mandi, Narankari Bazaar, Fawara Chowk, Trunk Bazaar,Jamia Masjid Road, Sadiqabad, Muslim Town, Commercial Market, Saidpur Road, Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, Asghar Mall Road, Ganjmandi Road, Dhoke Mangtal Road and Bagh Sardaran in the city.
Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Naveed Irshad has said that encroachments were the major cause in maintaining smooth flow of traffic.
The CTO said that traffic police were making all out efforts to avoid traffic jam on the roads.
He urged the traders to cooperate with traffic police in eradicating encroachment, adding that without removal of encroachments, increasing traffic problems could not be addressed.
The Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation Chief Municipal Officer remained unavailable for his comments on the issue as the anti-encroachment operations of the Corporation were halted for a while and needed stringent action.