Islamabad:The Superintendent of Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) has ‘politely refused’ to implement directions of the Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad, which were issued to facilitate commuters travelling up and down the Islamabad Expressway (T-Chowk GT Road to Korang Nullah bridge) during rush hours of morning and evening.
It was late last year that the Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad, in response to ever pressing demand from the commuters travelling up and down the Islamabad Expressway to reach their work places or educational institutions and return home took a decision to suspend movement of heavy traffic from 7 am to 9 am in morning and from 5 pm to 7 pm in evening. It was a widely hailed administrative decision and brought great relief to the commuters.
Then the COVID-19 struck. There was a lock down announced. Only essential staffers in important departments were allowed to come to their offices. The educational institutions were shut down. Business activities were considerably curtailed.
The volume of small vehicles, cars and motorbikes, plying on roads and highways dropped by almost 80 per cent. According to the government decision only goods transport vehicles were allowed to ply during those days of ‘lock down’.
So, in absence of small traffic because of COVID-19 pandemic there was no more need to suspend movement of heavy traffic during any hours of the days. But now after the ‘smart lock down policy’ adopted by the government the routine of life has been restored, thus bringing small traffic back on roads and highways like in normal days.
The traffic congestion issue at ‘Korang Nullah’ bridge and beyond towards T-Chowk on GT Road returned. The Deputy Commissioner was contacted over the issue and he said that he has not reverted the directions he has issued to suspend heavy traffic movement as were issued before COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
The Deputy Commissioner categorically said that he has not withdrawn his earlier directions about suspending movement of heavy traffic from 7 am to 9 am and from 5 pm to 7 pm on this particular segment of Islamabad Expressway.
However, the ITP seems not ready to follow those directions. Now, what the ITP has completely failed to comprehend is that it was not about the narrowing of road up and down beyond ‘Korang nullah’ bridge up to T-Chowk on GT Road which compelled the Deputy Commissioner to issue those directions.
It was all about the incapability, incapacity, inefficiency, or inability to control traffic flow on this section of the Islamabad Expressway despite being so well aware of the root cause of the problem, which obviously is slow moving heavy traffic!
One can understand the sympathetic behaviour of ITP towards these truckers and trailer operators, who are loaded way beyond their actual capacity and crawling on the roads all over Pakistan, causing all the rutting and damage to the road network throughout the country.
But still if the ITP is not willing to implement Deputy Commissioner’s directions for maintaining smooth flow of traffic on this part of the Islamabad Expressway, at least they can implement the writ of law and make these truckers and trailers to follow the laid down rules, like keeping in their lane and not overtaking where it is clearly declared prohibited.