Govt decides to actually impose heavy traffic ban

Road mishaps finally jolt authorities out of slumber, illegal daytime plying

of vehicles with over 10 wheels to be stopped

In the wake of the death of three people when a trailer truck overturned in Qayyumabad and other recent road accidents in the city, the provincial transport department decided on Friday to take steps to ensure that heavy vehicles did not ply the roads during daytime.

The decision was made at a meeting presided over by provincial transport minister Nasir Hussain Shah. Its participants included Karachi commissioner Aijaz Ahmed Khan, DIG traffic Aijaz Shaikh and transport secretary Ghazanfar Ali Qadri.

It was observed that the plying of vehicles having more than 10 wheels was already banned in the city during daytime, but the ban was neither being implemented by traffic police, nor were drivers abiding by it.

It was decided that the ban will be implemented strictly and action would be launched from Monday.

Speaking on the occasion, the transport minister said citizens were facing hardships because of heavy traffic, especially during rush hours.

“We are trying our best to prevent traffic accidents,” Shah added.

Karachi’s parking problem was also discussed and it decided to chalk out a plan for underground parking in different areas of the city.

The traffic engineering bureau has been assigned to make comprehensive arrangements under the public-private partnership mode to execute this plan. Traffic accidents are frequently occurring in Karachi as its major roads have been dug up for reconstruction or other developments projects without providing proper alternate routes to motorists.

On Thursday afternoon, three people were killed and two others injured as a trailer truck carrying a shipping container toppled off the Karachi Port Trust Interchange, Qayyumabad – the sixth major accident in the metropolis over the past 14 days which raised the two-week death toll to 18.

A day earlier, three people were killed and two others injured when a taxi overturned on Wednesday at Garden Interchange – the track which joins the two sides of Lyari Expressway.

The victims were taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi. Three of them, 50-year-old Saeed Qaleemullah, 60-year-old Syed Sawleh Muhammad and 50-year-old Syed Faiz Muhammad, succumbed to their injuries, while 45-year-old Haji Abdul Huq and 15-year- old Naveed Ullah were admitted for treatment.

On Tuesday, six people were killed and 27 others injured when a speeding Tando Bagho-bound bus smashed into a column of Sassui Toll Plaza on National Highway.

Police and witnesses said the bus driver tried to overtake an oil tanker when the brakes of the vehicle failed and it crashed into the column.

On February 3, a minibus had hit three pedestrians, killing one of them, a woman, on the scene. One of the injured people, Hunza Khan, a student of the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology after battling for life at a private hospital for nine days passed away on Friday.