There are better ways to control traffic than slapping fines!

Islamabad : The ‘father’ of Islamabad Traffic Police’ (ITP), Dr Sultan Azam Taimuri, is back in town. And this time he is occupying the office of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) of the federal capital. A very ‘hot and uneasy saddle to mount’ indeed!

And as was anticipated, he has ‘zeroed in’ his focus on city’s traffic issues in addition to gigantic task he has set for himself, that is to fight corruption in the Islamabad Police force, introducing ‘accountable law enforcement’ aimed at improving policing, raising an ‘anti-riots’ department and more!

We grudgingly would concede that most of the steps he had taken in the past as the SSP ITP, turned out to be quite productive!

But now the volume of traffic on the city roads has grown manifolds since he was last here. And it is obvious that slapping fines for offences like ‘over speeding’, ‘not wearing seat belts while driving or sitting in the front passenger seat’, not wearing helmets (for bikers only!) will not be enough.

There is a lot more to be done to bring discipline on our roads, be those in the federal capital or anywhere all over the country. And those are simple enough to implement if there is a will.

Many years ago, probably a couple of decades ago, Pervez Rathore, who at that time was the Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) NH&MP, based in Rawalpindi tried to control the menace of ‘over-loading’ by the truckers.

The issue was indeed very serious because the overloading not only caused serious damage to the road infrastructure but also led to clogging of traffic because of their slow movement. DIG NH&MP Pervez Rathore came up with an excellent plan that he tried to implement.

He succeeded to some extent as well. But as soon as he vacated the office, the things returned to past routine within a matter of days, if not hours!

Another Inspector-General of the NH&MP, Zulfiqar Cheema, issued serious directions to be implemented to bring order on our highways (while travelling on our motorways, we are from a different planet).

IG Cheema issued simple directions to prevent the heavy transport vehicles, the trucks and buses, to strictly remain in extreme left lane and not to overtake the vehicle ahead unless and until the driver is sure that he would not disrupt normal flow of traffic in the second (or third lane where it is available on the National Highways).

These directions from the IG office were strictly implemented by the officers patrolling on the National Highways. And it was amazing to note that one can reach Lahore in 4-and-a-half hour or at the most in five, while travelling on the GT (Grand Trunk) Road. And that too while remaining very well within the prescribed speed limits!

Since Zulfiqar Cheema retired from the office, the situation has returned to the same chaos on our National Highways with extremely over-loaded trucks, moving at snail’s pace, overtaking each other giving no way to the other motorists, honking incessantly and cursing behind them!

We offer the IGP Islamabad, Dr Sultan Azam Taimuri, a simple challenge! Please streamline the traffic flow on the Islamabad Expressway from ‘Faizabad to ‘T-Chowk’ on GT Road near Rawat. Especially on the narrow ‘Korang nullah’ bridge and beyond, up and down!

Okay, we also offer a ‘lay man’s solution’ to this problem as well for him to implement and see if it works!

First, restrict movement of heavy traffic (all kind of trucks) for two hours in the morning (7 am to 9 am) and for two hours in the evening (5 pm to 7 pm) and see if it works?

Second, make sure that these trucks don’t overtake while those are allowed to ply and strictly keep to the extreme left lane unless and until it becomes absolutely essential.

Third, to ensure implementation of these two steps, deploy a bit of extra force at important points on the Islamabad Expressway and the Islamabad Highway (yet to be turned into Expressway) beyond ‘Korang nullah’ bridge.

And if the objective of slapping traffic with a new vigour is to generate more and more funds for the ITP , then we can assure you Sir, that you can raise much, much, much more money by slapping tickets for lane violations alone! And that will also bring immense relief in the lives of commuters on our roads and highways!