The commuters and motorists continue to face hardship in reaching their destinations as Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration has blocked D-Chowk for traffic for the last several days. A senior official of ICT administration said that police has blocked D-Chowk due to expected protests, including Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) march, to be held on December 22. "The closure of D-Chowk has nothing to do with special court recent judgment regarding former President Pervez Musharraf but administration closed it for traffic due to some scheduled protests", he said.

D-Chowk, one of the main crossing points for traffic, due to which commuters, especially those going towards Secretariat, Diplomatic Enclave, Supreme Court, Parliament House, Federal Board of Revenue and other important offices inside the heavily guarded Red Zone, are being badly affected on daily basis.

The blockade has increased traffic on other adjacent/link roads including NADRA Chowk, Fazl-e-Haq Road, China Chowk, F-6 and F-7 roads especially during rush hour as a large number of public and private offices are located in the area.

Federal Services hospital commonly referred to as Polyclinic Hospital is also located near the red zone and D Chowk closure is making it difficult for patients to reach there.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019