LAHORE: Security personnel, barricades, tents and barbed wires were the order of the day as the Punjab government put up the best security arrangements for staging the final of Pakistan Super League at Gaddafi Stadium.
About 15,000 police and paramilitary soldiers were deployed in and around the stadium with 10 district police officers, two chief traffic police officers and hundreds of police officers and wardens called in from nearby districts.
Five-layered security was implemented around the stadium. All the roads, streets and lanes leading to Gaddafi Stadium were barricaded by barriers, tents or barbed wires at about two kilometres.
All kinds of traffic was blocked near Jail Road on Canal Road and diverted to Qurtaba Chowk. On Jail Road, the traffic was blocked near Siddique Trade Centre while drivers were barred from proceeding on Ferozpur Road near Ichra.
Traffic coming from Maulana Shaukat Ali Road towards Kalma Chowk was blocked near Punjab University Campus Chowk, from Model Town near Model Town Morr and Cavalary Bridge near Firdous Market.
According to the security plan, ticket holders to the match were supposed to park their vehicles at any of the five designated parking lots set up at Ichhra Flyover, Liberty Market, Centre Point, FC College and Barkat Market.
Blockades at all these points meant the north of the provincial metropolis was cut off from the southern part. Commuters had to face extreme nuisance as all the main roads were closed down while Multan Road, another thoroughfare, has already been blocked because of the ongoing work on Metro Train’s Orange Line track.
Only people with original identity cards and tickets to the PSL final were allowed beyond these points. All the participants were frisked with metal detectors and scanned by walkthrough gates at four places – the first blockade at least a kilometre away from parking, at the parking point, while entering Gaddafi Stadium as well as the entrance of the enclosure.
The venue and its surroundings were under constant surveillance through CCTV cameras and a helicopter. The internal circle of the stadium was cordoned off by paramilitary Rangers with snipers deployed at nearby rooftops to keep an eye on suspicious persons. Before the match, the stadium was cleared by sniffer dogs and bomb experts.
Punjab police chief Mushtaq Sukhera, Lahore CCPO Amin Wains and other senior police officers remained busy on patrolling throughout the day to supervise security arrangements.
Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif made back to back visits to the stadium from his Model Town residence throughout the night to ensure all arrangements were in place. During his visit, he expressed annoyance with the Lahore commissioner over unsatisfactory arrangements.
On the CM’s instructions, 22 new water coolers were installed at the stadium. Four mechanical lavatories, two at FC college and one each at PCSIR and Barkat Market, were installed for the drivers staying in the parking areas.
(Express Tribune)
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