KARACHI: Residents of Steel Town on Tuesday afternoon staged a sit-in on the main National Highway against disconnection of gas of their family quarters, causing inconvenience to the commuters for hours, officials and witnesses said.

A traffic police spokesperson in a statement said the employees of steel mills were protesting against sui gas dis-connection to the family quarters.

As a result, both tracks of the highway were closed for traffic from Steel Town Chowk near Quaid-i-Azam Park at around 2:30pm. The traffic was diverted from Port Qasim Chowrangi inside roads towards Ghaghar Phatak and from link road crossing towards the city centre.

However, deputy commissioner Malir held successful talks with the protesters who dispersed peacefully at around 9pm.