The police have made it impossible to use certain areas in the Federation of Pakistan Capital Territory (Islamabad), Rawalpindi, and Lahore w.e.f on 25th November ahead of PTI’s call for a protest on November 24th. This has led to widespread travel chaos as many people have traveled for Thanksgiving and are now stuck without being able to board other available means of transport. Motorways and bus terminals have been shut; thus, many people have no alternative except to use railway services. However, the Rawalpindi Railway Station has been flooded with people. As a result, there is over congestion, and lots of people are left standing in queues, and many others are left without tickets due to the high demand of travelers who want to take the services. While additional shuttle trains have been put in place to ease the influx of people, this has unfortunately not been able to restore order to the situation. To alleviate the pileup of passengers, Railway authorities declared that there was one more shuttle train that was going to leave at four o’clock for passengers.
Also Read: Govt to Suspend Mobile Services Nationwide Ahead of PTI Protest Nov 23
Response from the leaders in PTI
Still, PTI leaders have maintained their hopes to stage the protest as advertised, in spite of the limitations. There are still some issues for the citizens as they still have to turn out in such disarray. The escalated decision to cut off certain access ways and to use heavy-handed tactics is all indicative of the attempts by the authorities to suppress the situation. From the above it is easy to see that people have been advised to take precautions concerning their journeys and pay attention to the news. The actions taken by authorities have caused separately mixed reactions among the population. Some applaud the actions aimed at protecting the people, but many do not like the measures taken as they are a great inconvenience to the public.
Travel impact
Several sections of the motorways and important thoroughfares have been put up roadblocks which has affected mobility to a great extent. The disruption has been extended to many major roads, especially the Muridke to Jhelum section and Chenab River Bridge in Gujrat, where containers have been used to blockade entire stretches. This has caused long hours of waiting in vehicles. The officials are advising the passengers to stay away from these routes and take different roads so that they do not get late. Shuttle train services are also being extended to the titanic number of travelers at the Rawalpindi Railway Station. Nevertheless, the selling out of most of the train tickets has brought in a great deal of angry and clogged passengers.
Also Read: Protests Cause Closure of Lahore-Islamabad GT Road
Conclusion: The protest by PTI has caused some travel inconveniences, particularly in the cities of Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore. Certain stringent measures have been put in place by the authorities in order to control the situation and citizens have been advised to keep abreast of developments and schedule their trips accordingly.