LAHORE: It was another day of painful ordeal on Thursday for the motorists who faced heavy traffic jams on The Mall and adjacent arteries because of a protest by the Young Doctors Association (YDA) for the restoration of their colleagues.

A group of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff of the Mayo Hospital have erected tents on The Mall for the last two days, blocking it for all kinds of traffic.

The motorists have to suffer the worst gridlock on The Mall and adjacent arteries including Davis Road, Sunder Das Road and 7th Club Road.

The two-day long agitation followed by a sit-in threw the traffic out of gear, causing a great deal of inconvenience to motorists, shoppers and the traders running businesses alongside the city`s busiest artery (The Mall).

The protest also exposed the performance of traffic police which, according to motorists, failed in evolving any alternate traffic plan forhundreds of vehicles that got stuck in the mess for hours.

Several ambulances, police vehicles and buses carrying wedding parties also failed to find a way to reach their destinations timely, according to some witnesses.

A traf fic police spokesman said that 63 wardens, including seven inspectors and 14 patrolling officers, besides the city traffic SP and three DSPs were deployed to keep the traffic flow smooth on The Mall and its adjacent arteries on the direction of Chief Traffic Officer Tayyab Hafeez Cheema.

He said nine diversion points had been established on The Mall where traffic police officials were guiding the motorists.

The spokesman said three fork-lifterswerealsoin service around the markets to clear the road from illegal parking.

He said wardens had also been deployed on the Canal Road, Regal Chowk and the GPO while DSPs were directed to keep patrolling in the area to deal effectively with the gridlock situation arising out of doctors` protest.