Speed checking cameras needed on Motorway M-3

Islamabad :Non-availability of speed checking cameras on motorway (M-3) section from 'Lahore to Abdul Hakeem', causing fatal accidents due to speeding.

230-km long M-3 is a 6-lane highway with 3 rest areas along the motorway, was inaugurated on 30 March 2019 and was opened for traffic on 1 April 2019.

After the seven months of inauguration, National Highway Authority (NHA) couldn’t provide portable speed checking cameras to the National Highways & Motorway Police (NH&MP).

According to the agreement between NHA and the contractors, it was responsibility of the later to provide Intelligent Transport System (ITS), the 10 portable speed checking cameras, to the NH&MP as per their specification. Source told that the contractors provided local defective system, which is not operational even after the inauguration of the motorway for public.

It was the part of contract that the contractor will supply 10 portable speed monitoring system, the speed checking cameras, which were provided to NH&MP were of inferior quality and were rejected by officers of the department.

Sources told that speeding on M-3 is causing many fatal accidents and the faulty speed monitoring gadgets are one of the big reasons of accidents.

When ‘The News’ contacted DIG M-3 Sultan Ahmed he said that the accident ratio on M-3 is very low.

Answering question about non-availability of portable speed checking cameras, he said that it was written as an interim arrangement that the contractor would provide such speed monitoring gadgets until full functionality and optimisation of ITS system.

Haseeb Ahmed an official from NHA told ‘The News’ that providing portable speed camera was part of contract. The contractors provided very low quality cameras which were ejected by the motorway authorities.

He told that contractors were given more time to provide portable cameras even that deadline has also passed.