RAWALPINDI: The capital police on Sunday issued a traffic advisory announcing the complete closure of the Red Zone and its extended areas in Islamabad and restricting entry only to official vehicles.
According to a police statement on X, traffic from Kashmir Chowk towards Serena Chowk and Srinagar Highway will remain closed. Commuters coming from Bhara Kahu have been advised to use Club Road via Kashmir Chowk to enter the city.
Similarly, motorists travelling from Murree Road can access Bhara Kahu through Club Road and Kashmir Chowk.
Srinagar Highway will remain closed from the Seventh Avenue Bridge to Serena Chowk, while both sides of the road from Zero Point to the Seventh Avenue flyover will remain open.
Markets in Rawalpindi could not be opened due to lack of coordination
The commuters can use the Seventh Avenue intersection to access G-6, G-7 and Chand Tara Chowk.
Meanwhile, Faisal Avenue and Margalla Road will remain open for traffic along with routes from Nawaz Chowk to F-7 Markaz and from Khayaban Chowk towards Blue Area.
Nazimuddin Road towards F-6 and F-7 as well as Fazl-i-Haq Road towards G-6 and G-7 will also remain open. Sources said Red Zone will be closed till the departure of all the expert delegates who participated in the US-Iran talks.
Market closed in Rawalpindi
Though the US delegation left Islamabad on Sunday morning followed by the Iranian negotiating team in the evening, bazaars, shops in the streets around Nur Khan Airbase and Peshawar Road, Saddar and Raja Bazaar remained closed till night due to lack of coordination among the district administration and police.
Residents around Nur Khan Airbase also remained confined to their houses the whole day. Traders in other areas were seen outside their shops waiting for a direction from the administration so they could open their business centres. In the morning, the district administration officials allowed traders in Saddar and Raja Bazaar to open their outlets but after half an hour police arrived and again forced them to close the shops.
Cantonment Traders Association General Secretary Zafar Qadri told Dawn that the assistant commissioners City and Cantonment earlier informed the association to open shops. We shared the message with all shopkeepers. Upon this, he said, shopkeepers opened their shops but the police teams arrived and asked them to close again.
“We told them that the district administration had allowed opening of shops, but the police said they were yet to receive a direction from their high-ups. There was lack of coordination among the assistant commissioners and the police which put the traders’ association in an embarrassing situation,” he said.
He added that traders were forced to close their shops for four days and during which faced financial crunch. It exposed the working of bureaucracy in the garrison city, he said.
Rawalpindi Traders Association President Sharjeel Mir told Dawn that there was no coordination among the administration and police.
“At 10am, Assistant Commissioner City Iman Zafar asked shopkeepers to open but Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (PERA) teams forced us to close shops. When we registered a complaint about misinformation by the assistant commissioner city with the deputy commissioner, a message was sent to us at 3pm to open the shops,” he said. He added that most of the shops remained closed as by then salesmen and other workers had gone home due to the confusion. However, he said some shops were opened only for five hours – till 8pm.
“There is shortage of edibles in many streets and people had to go on foot to nearby localities to get items of daily use like milk and vegetables,” said Mohammad Arshad, a resident of Shah Khalid Colony.
Mohammad Khurram, of Chaklala Scheme-III, said his daughter was to appear in an NTS exam for admission to the university and the centre was set up at Punjab College, 6th Road. There was rush on the road from Chaklala Scheme-II to Rahimabad as containers were placed on the service road along the flyover toward the Airport and Rawal roads. He said it took half an hour to cross Rahimabad toward Rawal Road.
Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2026
