Poorly maintained vehicles cause of concern for commuters

Rawalpindi :Poorly maintained engines, faulty wiring and non-fitting of fixed nozzles on gas cylinders has been causing fire explosions in local or long route public service vehicles (PSVs) on roads creating fear and panic among passengers.

An explosion at a wagon in front of commissioner’s office in Rawalpindi on Wednesday due to poor wiring and gas leakage created fear and panic among public where traffic wardens stopped all kinds of traffic going towards burnt vehicles on the occasion.

A senior traffic warden, Muhammad Yasir, told ‘The News’ that fortunately wagon was empty (without passengers) when fire erupted in the wagon which was going towards Islamabad. He said that transporters do not follow the rules to avoid such kinds of fire explosions in public service vehicles (PSVs). They are not using fixed nozzles on gas cylinders. “Wiring is poor and the engines of many vehicles are poorly maintained which causes fire and explosions in vehicles,” he said.

According to police records, more than 60,000 people died in road accidents over the last 11 years. The figure is based on the cases which were reported to the police. It is pertinent to mention that according to the World Health Organisation report (published in 2013) road accidents will become the fifth major cause of deaths by 2030.

The city traffic police has been continuously launching campaigns against public transporters using substandard cylinders and have arrested some drivers for the violation of ban on placing gas cylinders under passengers’ seats. They were warned that substandard gas cylinders will be removed from their vehicles.

Despite all these things, drivers are openly violating safety measures and driving vehicles of poor conditioned engines, bad wiring and not fixed fitting nozzles in cylinders causing fire explosions immediately.

According to CTO Rawalpindi Chaudhry Yousuf Shahid, the law is applicable on all public transport vehicles including busses and trucks, which can also not have more than the allowed number of gas cylinders.

“The use of substandard gas cylinder cannot be allowed and violators will be booked as this puts the lives of passengers and the general public at risk,” he said. According to traffic police wardens, traffic accidents are the leading cause of deaths among people aging from 15 to 29 in Pakistan.

“The main reasons for road accidents include poor vehicle condition, ignoring traffic rules and instruction marks on roads, signal breaking as well as speeding, wheelie, use of mobile while driving, wrong overtaking, use of drug, wrong parking, overloading and bad road condition.”

A survey conducted by ‘The News’ majority of public service vehicles (PSVs) included taxis, rickshaws, trucks and other loading vehicles on roads are not properly maintained. More than 70 per cent PSVs are not using fixed fitted nozzles in cylinders therefore gas was continuously leaking.

Similarly, fuel was leaking from fuel tanks as around 20 per cent vehicles using leaked fuel tanks in vehicles. Around 50 per cent PSVs are being driven with bad wiring which was a major cause of fire explosions.

The sources alleged that transporters provide a big amount as ‘bribe’ to transport authority at the time of passing their vehicles. A transporter could pass his vehicle of old model after providing ‘bribe’ otherwise he could not get the clearance even of new vehicle, the sources said.

Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Secretary Khalid Yameen Satti said that they are strictly monitoring all PSV and loading vehicles. We are also removing substandard gas kits from public service vehicles (PSVs), he claimed.