Several vehicles were stuck in a traffic jam and many were seen taking alternate routes after dozens of people protesting against unavailability of electricity blocked the road near Lasbela Chowk in Karachi on Friday.

Protesters had started blocking the road from 4pm.

A queue of traffic waiting for the streets to open was also seen in nearby streets. According to updates by 6:45pm, traffic was still jammed.

Protesters said that the area was out of electricity for the past 12 hours. They claimed that the helpline was not responding to their calls. Earlier, it was reported that the electricity was unavailable due to a technical fault and non-payment of bills.

It merits here to mention that 5pm to 7pm are the peak hours when high traffic is seen as many people return to home from offices. Moreover, the Business Recorder Road in the Gurumandir area is one of the main arteries in the city. The track leads to Nazimabad.

The road was cleared for traffic more than three hours after residents of the area called off their protest. In an update on X, the Karachi Traffic Police said that both sides of the Business Recorder Road, Patel Pada beside the Guru Mandir area were opened by 7:06pm.