Majority of traffic signals not working in capital

Islamabad : Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) Friday revealed that majority of traffic signals installed at different intersections of the capital roads were out of order, terming the issue one of the main reason behind its poor performance.

There are total 83 signals across the capital, out of which only 40 per cent are functional and 60 per cent are in dilapidated condition, a senior official of ITP told APP.

He complained about Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) lukewarm response despite its repeated requests for timely fixation of the faulty signals.

The officials said ITP had pointed out time and again about the malfunctioning of signals to the departments concerned, but received no response apparently due to financial constraints.

He urged the authorities concerned to take immediate action and pass necessary directives to repair the faulty signals, which might lead to fatal accidents.

CDA was supposed to give safety guidelines to the road users and timely maintenance of the traffic infrastructure, he said adding that the ITP had the mandate to ensure implementation of traffic movement laws and sensitise motorists about the traffic laws and regulations.

To a question, he said the ITP was holding traffic rules awareness workshops for motorists, but faced difficulties to ensure the enforcement of the rules in absence of well-maintained traffic infrastructure.

"How can traffic police implement the law without warning, he questioned and said it was the worldwide practice of issuing a challan ticket after giving a warning.

A CDA official from Traffic and Engineering Wing admitted that the ITP had highlighted the issue and the proposal had been sent to the Engineering and Maintenance wing which finalised it and forwarded to high-ups for final approval.

However, he negated the number given by the ITP and said that there were total 104 signals installed in the Zone-I of the federal capital out of which 75 were working, 16 were out of order and 13 had been closed due to certain reasons.

Responding to the CDA’s financial constraints, he said since bifurcation of Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) and CDA, the both were at their loggerheads on management affairs.

He said on the other hand, some grants of the CDA were yet to be released by the finance division.

Now, he said the matter came under the MCI domain, but unfortunately CDA was paying salaries of MCI's employees and its utility bills.

Suggesting the sustainable solution to the issue in prevailing situation, he said, the authorities concerned should resume collection of toll tax on previous practice to generate income and carry out necessary repair work.