R A W A L P I N D I : Commuters in the city were faced with long traffic jams on Wednesday after the traffic police closed off part of Murree Road due to a rally by the Jamiat-i-Islami (JI).

The traffic jam started at about 2:45pm when the traffic police closed one side of Murree Road from Mareer Chowk to Liaquat Bagh and continued till 4:30pm Just one or two traffic wardens could be seen trying to direct traffic in Mareer Chowk and trying to divert trafhe back to Kutchery Chowk or Saddar.

Traffic jams were also witnessed on Rashid Minhas Road, Liaquat Road, Committee Chowk, Bank Road, Airport Road, Sadigabad and Tipu Road.

`I have been stuck in traffic jam for 40 minutes and I have been trying to call the traffic authorities, but they are not responding,` said a motorist, Mohammad Bilal.

When asked, Chief Traffic Officer Yousuf Shahid said the traffic jam was due to a rally at Liaquat Bagh and that it was not the traffic police`s fault.

However, the city traffic police had not made any alternative arrangements for commuters.-Staff Reporter