LAHORE: The city traffic police came hard on the citizens on the third day of the Eid by setting up several pickets on the roads and imposing heavy fines on them, spoiling the festivity even for the families when they came out in large numbers.
The traffic police reportedly stopped the car and bike riders by placing the barriers in the middle of the roads and issued fine tickets to ‘generate maximum revenue.’
The major crackdown was launched on major roads of the city like The Mall, Jail Road, the Main Boulevard of Gulberg, the canal and the CBD, leading to the favourite visiting spots for the families.
Dozens of traffic police personnel blocked the both tracks of the CBD by putting barriers in the middle of the roads, slowed down the traffic and sidelined several cars and bikes to impose fines.
Citizens complain of ‘harsh’ traffic rules enforcement; Rs6.2bn fine recovered in 2.5 months
The witnesses said the police targeted most of the families visiting the CBD Boulevard to enjoy signal-free corridors, decorated with multiple beautified greenbelts.
Particularly, the children and women used to visit the 4.5 kilometer smart road to explore multiple attractions particularly including solar-powered sidewalks, and dedicated lanes for cyclists and pedestrians.
Many families reportedly argued with the police to find out the reasons for imposing fines on the CBD as its tracks were having no signals to violate rules.
Another heavily guarded picket was witnessed on the Liberty Roundabout where the wardens were spotted rounding up several cars and bike riders.
The Liberty Chowk has recently become a vibrant focal point for family-friendly celebrations in clean, green and welcoming atmosphere, particularly,during special occasions like Eid, New Year’s night, Basant festivities etc.
The barriers were placed by the traffic wardens in the middle of the road to slow down the movement of the vehicles to make it easy for them to intercept the motorists.
The same measures were witnessed on the u-turns of the Main Boulevard of Gulberg where the traffic police personnel were spotted handing down to the motorists fine tickets.
Similarly, the traffic pickets were raised on The Mall which was leading to the Lahore Zoo, a place full of fun and adventure for the children and other visitors to discover various animals. The Jail Road also witnessed the traffic police pickets and the vehicles the personnel had stopped near Jilani Park where hundreds of families were going to celebrate Eid.
Some reports suggested that the Lahore traffic police authorities have shifted major focus towards generating revenue rather than managing traffic.
It was evident from a report which revealed that the Lahore traffic police had generated massive Rs12.55 billion revenue within just two and a half months (by February 2026).
Of the given amount, over Rs6.2bn was collected from traffic violations while other was generated by issuing and renewing driving licences.
A spokesperson for the city traffic police said the authorities did not impose fines on the first Eid day.
Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2026
