Oct 22, 2021: Authorities have suspended metro bus service in Rawalpindi and closed roads in Islamabad and Lahore as the government prepares for separate protests by banned organizations and opposition parties in the cities.

A day earlier, the Interior Ministry had written to the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) to suspend internet services in various parts of Lahore due to protests by the banned organization. The provincial government later suspended internet service around Multan Road, Grand Battery Stop, Iqbal Town, Noonkot, Samanabad and green areas of Lahore.

Containers have also been placed at various places in Lahore, such as at Samanabad Junction on Multan Road and at the grid station stop. Containers have also been set up at Dubai Chowk in the Boulevard area of Iqbal Town to thwart the protesters’ efforts to gather. Police have placed containers at the entrances and exits of the city.

Traffic flow in Lahore has also been severely affected after authorities sealed off various arteries in the city.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad Traffic Police has also issued a traffic plan (read below) as the city is ready to deal with the protest today.

Strict security measures have been taken in Rawalpindi, where authorities have suspended metro bus service and closed roads around it. Authorities have also closed several roads in the inner city.

Containers have been placed on the sixth road leading to Faizabad area while Faizabad Ojri Camp Road has also been sealed. The city administration has said that the metro bus will run only from IJP road stop to Pakistan Secretariat while it will be suspended from Saddar to Faizabad.

People from all walks of life have difficulty reaching their offices. Patients in remote areas also have difficulty reaching hospitals as authorities have sealed off major arteries in the city. Several ambulances are stranded on Murree Road as the road is blocked by containers.

A patient who was to be shifted from Benazir Bhutto Hospital to PIMS was stranded on Murree Road. His family said the patient was suffering from kidney and liver diseases. Even school children are forced to walk to their schools, with bags slung over their shoulders as the roads are sealed off.

The Islamabad administration has stepped up security measures to deal with the long march to the city of the banned organization. The city’s traffic police has appealed to citizens to use Ninth Avenue and those who want to travel from Faizabad to Rawalpindi should use IJP Road. “The Faizul Islam stop, Murree Road, has been closed to traffic,” an ICT spokesman said. “Those who plan to travel from Islamabad to Murree Road should take the Islamabad Highway.”

Jinnah Avenue Road from Express Chowk to D Chowk has been sealed off, the spokesman added, adding that citizens should use NADRA Chowk and Ayub Chowk to enter and exit the red zone area of the city.

The traffic police has directed the citizens to use Park Road, Teramari Road and Lehtar Road in the city to reach the Islamabad Highway. Citizens can also use Srinagar Highway, Ninth Avenue and IJP Road to reach Rawalpindi, traffic police said.

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