Islamabad : Commuting in Islamabad has become a nightmare for motorists of all type in all directions, be one travelling through Islamabad Highway, the 5-lane Islamabad Expressway, the Jinnah Avenue, Khayaban-e-Iqbal (previously Margalla Road), and parts of Kashmir Highway to mention a few of the main arteries of the federal capital.
The situation on the service lanes like Khayaban-e-Suhrawardy, Attaturk Avenue, Hakeem Luqman Road, Nazimuddin Road, in the downtown while the situation is far more pathetic in thickly populated I-9, I-10 sectors and IJ Principal Road. Usually the Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP), once a ‘Model Force’ for the whole country, is held responsible for the mess on our roads and highways. No doubt that the ITP had been performing par excellence for many, many years.
But recently its performance has almost nosedived and there are serious questions raised very often about their performance, abilities and capabilities to maintain order on our roads and highways in the federal capital, which eventually reflect on the traffic flow in the twin city of Rawalpindi.
Apparently the ITP bosses have become overly lax over the last few years and have been focusing on implementation on a few traffic rules violence, mainly the speed limit, wearing of helmets by the bikers, use of mobile phone while driving, and use of seat belts.
On the other hand much more serious violations causing disturbance in smooth flow of traffic, such as lane violation, particularly by the bikers, over-loading by loader vehicles, trucks and trailers, jumping signals, wrong overtaking and many more are being overlooked completely.
The SSP (Traffic), when contacted by this scribe for his comments on the deteriorating standard of the traffic, didn’t respond despite repeated attempt on his mobile, landline office number and SMS. When contacted, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Amir Zulfiqar said that the shortage of manpower was one of the main reasons of traffic mess.
The IGP Islamabad said that the ITP is grossly understaffed which is a big hurdle in controlling traffic and maintaining a smooth flow on our roads and highways. “Presently the strength of the ITP, all ranks, stands at around 650 personnel while we need a force of at least 1,100 officials for effective deployment to control and maintain smooth traffic in Islamabad,” IGP Amir Zulfiqar said.
It is now clear whether the IGP has pushed a demand to enhance the ITP strength by recruiting more officials. However, even with the existing strength the ITP bosses can bring about the desired change only if they may identify the bottleneck on the roads and highways in the federal capital and take regulatory measures to prevent chocking of traffic.
To mention just a few, the Korang Nullah Bridge, the Khanna Bridge, the Faizabad security check point, the Rawal Dam round-about, Serena T-Chowk, the 7th Avenue-Garden Avenue junction on Kashmir Highway, the 9th Avenue inter-section on 9th Avenue, the McDonald round-about, and the G-10-Kashmir Highway T-Chowk are the chocking points where effective traffic control can help minimize the miseries of commuters.
A traffic expert relating to a Civil Society, said, ITP alone cannot be solely blamed for the mess on our roads and highways in the federal capital. “Conceded that it is mainly the responsibility of the ITP to control traffic and maintain a smooth flow on the roads, avenues and highways but the traffic engineering department in the Capital Development Authority (CDA) also shoulders a big part of responsibility in this task.” “The road engineering department in the CDA has to take stock of the volume of traffic flow on in Islamabad and they should come up with appropriate measures like constructing slip roads, fish-belly U-turns, proper lane markings, painting curb stones with reflectors, installing the right size of ‘cat eyes’, creating appropriate dividers, and installing prominent direction signs to guide the motorists, especially the strangers traversing through the city roads and highways,” he maintained.