12 dead in accidents across Punjab on I-Day

LAHORE: Around 31 per cent increase in road accidents across the province on Independence Day compared to last year’s accidents has exposed management and performance of Punjab traffic police and other law enforcement agencies.

The road crashes on Independence Day claimed 12 lives and left 498 others seriously injured. According to the data collected by the Punjab Emergency Service, the rescuers rescued 1,585 victims while responding to 1,375 crashes across Punjab. This number shows 31pc increase in accidents compared to 1,046 crashes on Independence Day in 2017.

The data revealed that maximum accidents were reported in Lahore which included 435 followed by 139 in Faisalabad and 98 in Multan District. Four accidents were reported in Narowal, which is the lowest one. The data also revealed a decrease in accidents in districts Sialkot, Jhang, Attock, Gujrat, MB Din, Nankana Sahib, Vehari, Okara, Pakpattan, RY Khan whereas an increase in accidents was observed in remaining districts of Punjab.

DG Rescue Punjab Dr Rizwan Naseer observed that the crashes were the leading cause of injuries. Out of 1,375 injured due to Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs), 224 were single fractures, 164 head injuries, 87 multiple fractures, 23 spinal Injuries, whereas fortunately 1,087 (67pc) were minor injured. The DG said 78 per cent of the victims were males and 22 per cent female were affected in the accidents whereas 12 died at site of accidents.

The analysis of data revealed over speeding was the leading cause of accidents (46pc), followed by careless driving (32pc), wrong turns (8pc) and others cases 14pc. Moreover, motorbikes were found to be involved in 69pc, cars in 7.5pc, rickshaws in 10.3pc, vans in 3.94pc, buses and trucks in 1.56pc.

Dr Rizwan Naseer appreciated working of Provincial Monitoring Cell and expressed concerns over increasing number of RTCs which resulted in 12 deaths and 498 injuries in only 24 hours. He said strict enforcement of traffic laws is need of the hour besides urging general public to abide by traffic laws and safety rules while driving. He appealed to the parents to play their effective role to stop underage driving.

SAFE CITIES PROJECT: An NGO has launched its pilot report on the Punjab Safe Cities Project highlighting the progress of the project from a human rights perspective. The report titled “Punjab Government’s Safe Cities Project: Safer City or Over Policing?” aims to generate a conversation regarding the use of technologies in urban policing both locally and regionally.

The first phase of the safe cities project was completed in January 2018 with the aim of improving urban policing through ICTs, which saw the installation of 8000 CCTV cameras throughout the provincial capital of Punjab, Lahore, at a cost of 12 billion rupees. Digital Rights Foundation seeks to highlight the features of this project and also push for transparency from the government regarding its results.

Highlighting the findings of the report, the NGO’s Executive Director, Nighat Dad, notes that “the project cannot be categorised as merely an urban planning scheme or an e-government initiative—instead, the Punjab Safe City Project concerns itself primarily with modernising policing and “thana culture”. She adds: “While this a noble aim, the project fails to take into account foundational principles of transparency and data privacy.”

According to the findings, the authority suffers from many of the same problems that it claims to eschew. There is very little accountability and transparency for the authority and its operations. Furthermore, given the scope and ambit of surveillance powers exercised by the authority, there are no laws or policies regarding data protection.