KARACHI, once called the City of Lights, is blighted by several issues, primarily power outages, broken roads, water shortage, poor sewerage system and traffic jams. It is a pity that the city continues to face such issues despite being one of the most important urban centres in the country.

For most Karachiites like me, unending gridlocks have been a serious problem, and adversely affect physical and mental wellbeing, causing stress, rage, fatigue and irritability among the commuters.

There is no denying that the city`s burgeoning population, and, hence, the increase in the number of vehicles hitting the road, is a major reason behind traf fic jams, but probably the biggest factor is the citizens`utter disdainfortrafhc rules. The traf fic police`s inability to control the situation has its contribution to the problem.

A case in point is the ICI Bridge where cidzenshave toface sucha situadon almost daily from 5pm to 8pm. Traf fic is diverted in five directions at the ICI signal, causing heavy traffic jams all around.

I, and thousand like me, have been suffering from such gridlocks at that particular site for years now, and have observed that they have worsened over time. The relevant authorities should address the matter on a war footing and save the commuters f rom mental agony.

Muhammad Dawood Shah Karachi