Frequent gridlocks in Peshawar irk all and sundry

PESHAWAR: With poor traffic engineering system, broken roads, improper deployment of the traffic cops, blocking of roads for VIP movement and checking, the provincial capital has been witnessing worst traffic jams on a daily basis and irking a large number of people.
Despite the introduction of the Traffic Wardens and Model Traffic Policing, the authorities have failed to bring an end to the blockade of most of the roads in Peshawar right from early morning till late evening. Even the drive against the encroachments and the completion of a couple of flyovers could not make a difference.
“I have sold my car as it was of no use. I could not drive it while going to office or coming back home due to the blockade of roads all over the city, especially Civil Quarters,” said Malik Zahid, a government employee. He added that now he takes auto-rickshaw for the office and gets off it to walk on foot when it gets stuck in a traffic jam.
The government recently introduced Traffic Warden System in the provincial capital after Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said that he was not satisfied with the performance of the traffic police. The Warden System too could not yield good results so far.
Some commuters complained that the focus of the government and the Traffic Police is only on Grand Trunk Road, Khyber Road and University Road while they have ignored the rest of the 80 percent roads that are used a lot more by the motorists daily. “I don’t bring my car for the reason it is almost impossible to drive within Peshawar city. I walk to the office in the morning and take auto-rickshaw in the evening,” said a medicine dealer of Namakmandi, Najibullah.
He added that many others in the bazaar either rode motorbikes or preferred to walk due to the worst condition of traffic all over Peshawar, including Saddar, Sher Shah Suri Road, Nauthia, Gulberg, Khyber Bazaar, Qissa Khwani, Namakmandi, Kohati, Shuba Bazaar, Hashtnagri, Tehsil Gor Ghatri, Ghanta Ghar, Charsadda Road, Pajaggi Road, Phandu Road, Dabgari, Ramdas, Bhanamari, Civil Quarters and Kohat Road up to Scheme Chowk. Even Ring Road is now witnessing daily traffic jams.
The delay in construction of roads has further added to the problem.District Nazim Peshawar Mohammad Asim Khan recently expressed anger over the delay in construction of the Canal Road that provides an alternate route for those moving within the city as well as travel to the southern districts, Fata, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.
A bridge on the Canal Road had caved in almost a year back but the government has failed to reconstruct it. Also, the reconstruction work on the Canal Road from Bara Road to Ring Road is going on at a snail’s pace, irking thousands of commuters.
“Due to the blockade of Sher Shah Suri Road in FC Chowk and Nauthia, I used to divert near the Governor House through an overhead bridge to take the Railway Road and then link roads to reach Qayyum Stadium in Saddar,” said motorcyclist Aftab Ahmad.
Motorcycles are presently the only vehicles that can move on the city roads due to everyday blockade and traffic jams. As most of the traffic is diverted to the Ring Road, a number of road accidents are being reported from there because no traffic police is deployed there.
The absence of the traffic cops or the deployment of ill-trained policemen at Ring Road, Kohat Road Chowk further added to the traffic jam, especially irking thousands of those travelling to Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan via the Indus Highway.
The road is mostly blocked as the median between the two lanes have been removed by the authorities and nobody bothered to reconstruct it so traffic coming from the opposite lane doesn’t violate the lane. “The U-turns on Ring Road must be converted into the fish bellies like those on GT Road and University Road so the ratio of accidents on this route are reduced,” said a commuter.
Despite increase in road accidents, no one has paid any heed to improve the traffic system by deployment of the traffic cops and installing speed bumps ahead of U-turns or converting it into fish bellies so that no vehicle is intercepted.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Traffic Peshawar Riaz Ahmad said well trained traffic sergeants are properly deployed all over the city. “We have sufficient deployment of trained cops but the problem erupts due to protests by one or the other group for long time, the ongoing construction work in the Phase-III Chowk of Hayatabad and blocking the road for VIP movement and slow movement at checking points at various points,” added Riaz Ahmad.
The official said that the movement of the traffic has also affected after narrowing the road between Hayatabad and Karkhano after installation of an explosives scanner. “The situation will improve with the construction of Hayatabad Flyover, Canal Road and if the scanner is installed on the roadside and traffic is diverted for it,” added SP Traffic.
Riaz Ahmad also complained of lack of awareness among the motorists who block the opposite lane in case of any issue and permanently block both sides of the road. “We are delivering lectures in universities, colleges and schools to create awareness about traffic rules and rights of other motorists and pedestrians,” added the SP Traffic.