Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani has said that the provincial government has finalised a strategy to effectively deal with the problems of vehicular traffic congestion and road traffic accidents in Karachi.
Ghani on Friday chaired two meetings, during which he said that an indiscriminate drive against encroachments would soon be launched in all towns of the city after taking into confidence all the stakeholders. He also said that all the valid demands of transporters would be met.
He, however, made it clear that heavy transport vehicles and inter-city passenger buses have been banned from entering the city so that road traffic accidents and vehicular traffic congestion can be avoided.
The first meeting was related to the civic issues in Sohrab Goth Town. The meeting discussed physical encroachments, drainage of rainwater and other civic problems.
Ghani asked the District East deputy commissioner to work with the town administration and police to ensure maximum relief to the residents. He directed the town administration to take immediate corrective measures to restore drainage and sewerage systems in the Sohrab Goth area.
He said the provincial government would provide complete support to revamp the drainage and sewerage systems. He said that soon an anti-encroachment operation would be launched in all towns to lessen the hardships of the concerned residents.
He later met a delegation comprising representatives of the Supreme Council of All Pakistan Transporters. He informed the delegation that the provincial government has been left with no other option but to take stern action to deal with problems of road traffic accidents and vehicular traffic congestion on the main roads of the city.
He said that the issue of traffic congestion on the roads of the city has been affecting hundreds of thousands of motorists every day. Transporters are not being singled out by the government to take any punitive action, he added.
Ghani made it clear that the government has been taking steps to remove encroachments and bottlenecks to ensure the smooth flow of traffic in the city.
He assured the delegation that he would talk to the transport minister to protect the booking offices of the inter-city bus service housed in proper shops in the city.
Sharjeel orders
The provincial minister for information, transport and mass transit, Sharjeel Inam Memon, on Friday directed the newly formed road checking committee to implement the road rules in the entire province.
The Sindh government had constituted the road checking committee a day earlier. The committee will take cognizance of the movement of commercial vehicles, including dumpers and water tankers.
It will be headed by the secretary of the provincial transport authority and comprise the secretary of the Regional Transport Authority Karachi, representatives of the traffic police, and three motor vehicle inspectors from the government.
Sindh’s Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that ensuring the safety and well-being of citizens on the roads is the government’s top priority. He emphasized that no violations endangering human lives would be tolerated. “The purpose of these government measures is to effectively curb traffic violations and make roads safer,” he added.
The committee shall check the necessary documents of the commercial vehicles like registration books, route permits, fitness certificates, and driving licenses. Committee will also check on the roads to prevent violations such as overloading, overspeeding, and other traffic offenses.
Meanwhile, the Karachi Traffic Police in a statement said that during the last 24 hours, six traffic accidents took place in Karachi, in which nine people were killed and same were injured.
It was further stated that, a total of 99 accidents have been reported this year, out of which 32 were heavy traffic accidents, in which 39 people died, which is 32% of the total accidents.
This year, 105 people died in dumper accidents, 12 people died in 10 trailer accidents, 13 people died in 13 truck accidents, eight people died in five water tanker accidents and a person died in an oil tanker accident.
Out of all 99 accidents, 10 accidents occurred on the Super Highway (Motorway), four accidents on the Northern Bypass (Motorway), six accidents on the National Highway, seven accidents inside Bin Qasim Port Area and six accidents occurred at other places where traffic police are not deployed.
Overall, 34% of accidents occurred outside the roads monitored by the Karachi Traffic Police. The Karachi Traffic officers issued a total of 34,655 challans for heavy traffic this year and took action against drivers driving in a dangerous manner, arresting 489 drivers and cancelling 532 fitness certificates of vehicles in poor condition.
The Transport, Excise and Taxation Department has been requested to check the fitness registration of water tankers and dumpers involved in the supply of essential goods.
Except for essential goods, which include water tankers and garbage dumpers, the curfew hours are strictly enforced on all heavy vehicles. The traffic police are checking the fitness certificates of these vehicles individually and collectively and the driving licenses of the drivers.
Action is being taken against violators. The accident rate of heavy traffic was 40% in the last year 2024, which has reduced to 32% in this year 2025 due to the ongoing operations of the traffic police, which is a clear reduction.