Of ring road, bypass and plight of ITP

Islamabad
Almost all major and metropolitan cities of the country are being facilitated with ring-road and bypasses to divert traffic burdens in the city coming from other districts and tehsils but federal capital, Islamabad, is one of those unfortunate cities deprived of this basic option to keep the city free of heavy traffic movements.
Hundreds of thousands of vehicles enter the federal capital in a single day and all this heavy traffic mess goes from IJP Road to Islamabad Expressway to reach Rawat T-Chowk and vice-verse to go to M-2. After security threats at GHQ, Rawalpindi, heavy traffic moving from KPK to Punjab through GT Road was banned at Mall Road, Rawalpindi, and all this traffic mess has to pass IJP Road and Islamabad Expressway.
No one is realizing the importance of a Ring Road or bypass road for the federal capital, as there are evidences that people living adjacent to Islamabad Expressway use to block the road over gas, electricity or other issues that blocks entire movement from Punjab to KPK and between twin cities.
The Ring-Road from Rawat to Tarnol was proposed years ago but authorities concerned never bothered to start working on this project. Similarly, there is another proposal to widen the Islamabad Expressway from three-lane to five lanes but with mounting pressure of traffic, the proposed project was never implemented.
To preserve sanctity and natural beauty of the capital city has become in itself the biggest challenge with the launching and emergence of mega projects. The population of the federal capital has increased manifold during last four decades and the gigantic increase in population ensued mushroom growth of residential units, infrastructure and vehicles inflow in Islamabad.
Traffic mess during morning and evening hours has become a routine for the dwellers of the capital city as thousands of vehicles move in and out from entrance and exit points of the federal capital. Amidst this hectic situation, launching and completion of Metro-Bus Project was seemed like an ordeal task but credit goes to Islamabad Traffic Police in devising effective traffic management plan to ensure flow of traffic with minimum nuisance to city dwellers.
Contrary to Rawalpindi’s portion of Metro-Bus Project, the roadmap for Metro was placed on three major arteries of the capital city including IJP Road, Agha Shahi Avenue and Jinnah Avenue and design of the project was three-dimensional including elevated way, underpass and road-centric.
During last 14 months, Islamabad Traffic Police without additional staff of police personnel ensured presence of traffic officials at key points of the Metro Bus Project. They also faced the menace of ‘Dharna’ protests and routine duties relating to VVIPs movement.
Sharing bitter realities and difficulties within ITP, a senior officer disclosed that despite providing state of the art performance ITP since its inception in 2006 it is working in a makeshift office in Sector F-8/1. There is not any permanent official building allocated to traffic force. He further revealed that 23 inspectors as well as scores of DSP rank officers of ITP use their official vehicle as their offices and carry out official and routine work by sitting in their vehicles.
Performance of ITP during last eight years has never been on low ebb. ITP in performance of their duties have got ISO-9001 Award but were never facilitated with due privileges and facilities.
ITP has a total staff of 667 traffic personnel including officers. Total strength of vehicles available with ITP is 53 cars and 94 motorbikes, scores of vehicles are working since 2006 and are in miserable conditions but no action has ever been taken to facilitate ITP.
The 18-Km part of Metro-Bus Project that pass through Islamabad proved like a litmus test for performance of ITP with limited manpower and resources.
As many as 130 ITP officials were deputed along Metro Bus Project in three-shifts. The project of Metro Bus during 14 months was never paused owing to any protest or traffic mess.
ITP has always been vigilant and committed to their professional responsibilities. There is no instance that questions have been raised relating to performance of ITP personnel. ITP fulfilled all responsibilities tasked to it in a professional and committed way despite the fact that the force facing grave challenges relating facilities available and accomplishments made by them.
ITP is an army of 667 men that remained committed in performance of their responsibilities despite all physical odds and difficulties. ITP inked a history of professionalism and dedication during days of Metro Bus project.
Islamabad Traffic Police SSP Malik Matloob Awan talking to ‘The News’ disclosed that 120 personnel of ITP suffered from serious allergies during last 14 months while performing their duties along Metro Bus Project. The contractors of Metro Bus Project while initiating the project has promised to facilitate ITP with generators, lifters and bulldozers to overcome traffic issues and to avert any untoward traffic mess but all these promises remained promises and ITP handle all Metro related issues itself. The contractors of ITP never bothered to smooth the roads affected by digging and ITP has to ensure these arrangements to address these issues.
There are only four-challan collection points in the federal capital for public and collection of documents after receiving ticket is major nuisance for general public and public grievance could be settled by establishing more challan points in the federal capital.
In Sector H-8, I-8 and H-9, there are approximately 189 schools and colleges and controlling traffic in these sectors is one of major issue. ITP has conveyed to CADD and other institutes of the capital city to keep check on mushroom growth of educational institutes in these sectors but any strategy has never been devised in this regard. People residing in these sectors have to face massive traffic issues during school and office times, as despite deputing special team of ITP, there has always bumper-to-bumper traffic mess during schools hours.
SSP Malik Matloob Awan also disclosed that he personally remained present at Beaconhouse Chowk in Sector H-8 early in the morning to handle school rush.
ITP in year 2014 issued 75,284 tickets on traffic laws violation and deposited Rs2,212,8600 in the national exchequer. ITP was constituted as replica of Motorway Police and NHA Patrolling personnel, and it proved its worth in performance of their responsibilities but was never facilitated the way, NH&MP is being facilitated.
A senior official of ITP, requesting not to be named, said that even a single vehicle has not been inducted in pool of ITP vehicles since 2007 and condition of available vehicles is miserable but no measures are being taken to resolve these issues.
The SSP said that ITP is going to launch ‘One Window operation for licences’ at F-8 headquarters with cooperation of PTCL. He stated that to facilitate licences applicants of the twin cities, the special counters is being launched from June 1, 2015 with sole objective to facilitate the people of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Matloob Awan said, “We have proposed that Ring Road and Bypass Road is direly needed to divert pressure of traffic from Islamabad. The government should initiate this task as early as possible to provide optional roads from KPK to Punjab through Rawalpindi. Either Islamabad Expressway should be expanded from three to five lanes or a bypass should be constructed to facilitate traffic coming from KPK to Rawalpindi and to facilitate dwellers of the twin cities.