The traffic police have devised a contingency plan for Ramazan to “help people reach home safe and sound and in time to have iftar with their families”.
The traffic arrangements were prepared taking into consideration the city’s myriad problems, including encroachments, lack of parking spaces and the deplorable condition of roads.
Traffic Police Karachi chief DIG Asif Aijaz Shaikh told The News on Monday that people might face traffic rush between 2pm and iftar during the holy month and that shopping centres would be crowded starting mid-Ramazan.
Shaikh said the traffic police had limited manpower, with the overall strength being around 3,271. He added that 7,510 officials were posted in the traffic police against the sanctioned strength of 9,822.
“Of them, 4,239 constables are new recruits and 2,745 are on field duties. The remaining 526 are on office duties, of which 300 have been deployed for field duties in different areas.” He said the communication network available to the traffic police was purchased before 2007 and it was either outdated or in poor condition, requiring replacement with a state-of-the-art system.
Regarding traffic issues, the DIG said motorists stuck in gridlock blamed the police for poor management and weak enforcement of laws, but there were several other reasons that were beyond the control of the cops.
“Karachi’s roads cover 3,527 square kilometres, with a road network of 10,000 kilometres. Registered vehicles are around four million, with an increase of 1,100 a day. But the strength of the traffic police is limited.”
He criticised the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), the city police and the Defence Housing Authority for not showing an interest in removing encroachments, which he said exacerbated the already poor traffic situation. He also blamed the Karachi Development Authority’s Traffic Engineering Bureau for improper traffic engineering.
Shaikh said the other major issues were of lack of parking spaces, which compelled commuters to park their vehicles on roads to further contribute to the traffic mess. “It is the responsibility of the Karachi Building Control Authority, the KMC and the cantonment boards to provide parking spaces.”
Regarding vehicles with incomplete fitness certificates or route permits, he slammed the Sindh Transport Department for not revoking certificates of as well as issuing certificates to vehicles that were not roadworthy.
“Digging of roads without intimation to or consultation with the traffic police, accumulation of sewage on roads and frequent protests and sit-ins by different parties and organisations also worsen the traffic situation.”
Contingency plan
According to the Ramazan contingency plan, all seven traffic districts have been divided into the following five sectors under the administrative command of the relevant SSPs:
Sector-I is from Merewether Tower to Quaidabad, Sector-II from Eidgah Chowk to Sohrab Goth, Sector-III from Guru Mandir to Power House, Sector-IV from Siemens Chowrangi to Mowach Goth and Sector-V from Garden Chowk to Habib Bank via Pak Colony.
Officers and men deployed at important intersections are 495 in number, while officers and men deployed for routine traffic control duties in addition to the contingency plan are 2,550.
Traffic diversion
To reduce traffic burden or congestion on main roads or in market areas, vehicles, particularly public transport and light goods carriers, will be diverted to alternate roads through appropriate diversion points.
Camps will be set up outside shopping centres and they will be equipped with a public address system, with an adequate traffic staff to guide road users.
Chronic issues
DIG Shaikh said the chronic issues creating hurdles in traffic flow were encroachments, poor road conditions, lack of parking spaces and poor sewerage system. According to the details of the chocking points, encroachments were creating traffic hurdles at 48 locations, parking issues at 30 spots, ongoing development projects at 27 locations and reported engineering defects at five spots.
“These points should be considered on priority basis by the concerned quarters. The traffic police have already made a formal request to the relevant authorities to take action in this regard, but we’re still waiting for a response.”
Other measures
The traffic police chief said there was a dire need of a monitoring system, with teams comprising senior officers to monitor the flow of traffic in all the districts.
“Section officers and record keepers will remain vigilant for flow of traffic in their areas of responsibility and make diversion plans for congestion at chocking points.”
Regarding abandoned or broken down vehicles, he said the DSPs would keep all necessary tools in their vehicles for timely removal of such vehicles from the road to restore the traffic flow.
The DIG also made the assurance that strict enforcement of law would be ensured against rash and negligent driving, speeding, one-way violation, signal jumping, juvenile driving and parking violation.
Shaikh said control rooms would be established in each district of the city for recording public complaints and providing quick response to resolve them. “A contractor will be awarded iftar arrangement contracts for traffic police officials. Readers or any other representative of the SPs will collect iftar items from the contractor’s shop and distribute them among the officials at their duty points through the relevant record keeper.”