Traffic wardens fail to stop violations, accidents

LAHORE

THE city traffic police (CTP) have failed to implement traffic rules and regulations in the provincial metropolis which has resulted in death of 12 people and injuries to 45 other people in road incidents during the last one week.

The bosses of the CTP have been playing a vital role in improving the image of traffic police with tall claims of educating the citizens about traffic rules through lectures and media campaign. In fact the CTP have not only failed to maintain the smooth flow of traffic at trouble points in the city but also remained incompetent to implement the traffic rules and regulations. There is no check on speeding, overloading, line and lane violation which is causing frequent accidents and claiming the lives of innocent people.

Most of the incidents reported during the last week occurred due to speeding and violation of line and lane system. The traffic wardens who have been equipped with modern wireless system and latest vehicles are witnessed as silent spectators against violations and traffic mess which have become a permanent phenomenon for the Lahorites.

The citizens remain stuck in traffic jams for hours due to the mismanagement of traffic wardens. It is also witnessed that traffic wardens are so incompetent that they could not maintain the flow of traffic even on roads which are less busy like College Road. Interestingly, a number of accidents occur at traffic signals where a group of traffic wardens is regularly appointed to control the traffic.

On the other hand, the high-ups of the CTP have reportedly been focusing on revenue generation instead of streamlining the flow of traffic and reducing the road accidents.

During the last week, it was learnt, the acting chief traffic officer (CTO) aired a message on wireless to the 12 special squads of CTP that each special squad would register around 55 challans per day to generate revenue. Though the high-ups of CTP have denied airing any such message but several senior traffic wardens have confirmed about the target of filing challans on daily basis given to them by their bosses.

During only one week the deaths of 12 people, including two constables and a student of Lahore University, and injuries to 45 people are alarming and an eye opener for the top brass of Lahore traffic police and Lahore police. If some revolutionary steps were not taken, the woes and miseries of Lahorites would further increase.

Two constables, identified as Yahya and Imran Ahmad, were crushed to death by a rashly-driven mini truck in the Manga Mandi police area when they to work on a motorcycle. The local police and CTP failed to arrest the accused driver.

In the Muslim Town area an official jeep crushed a poor rickshaw driver, a father of father daughters and a son, on Wahdat Road. The area people staged a strong protest demonstration against the incident but to no avail.

It has become a common practice that police of the area take case of a traffic accident while the traffic police move away from the scene by showing their least concern over the cause of accident. The local police release the influential accused drivers by taking huge bribes and nab the poor ones.

Pak-India ‘Dosti Bus’ killed a 24-year-old motorcyclist, Zeeshan, on Canal Road near Jallo. A student of University of Lahore was crushed to death and her three class-fellows and two other people were badly injured on Raiwind Road. The deceased was identified as Maryam while the injured were Kinza, Afza, Aasia, Nawaz and Mehboob-ur-Rehman.

In two separate incidents, 30-year-old Ejaz and 25-year-old Binyamin were killed in the Batapur and Factory Area police limits. Three persons sustained injuries in Johar Town and Batapur. The injured were identified as Shahid, Wasif and Razia Bibi.

In Shahdara, a 24-year-old man was crushed to death on November 28 near Shahdara Toll Plaza while his friend Ejaz sustained injuries. On the same day six people, identified as Nida, 28, Khawar Ali, Fatima, Samina, Pervaiz and Shoba Masih sustained injuries in different road accidents. A 20-year-old girl and a 26-year-old man were run over and killed by a tractor-trolley on November 23. Three wheelie doers sustained injuries.

On November 25, a bus (MLL-8675) collided with a truck in front of Gate No 3 of Police Training Centre in Chuhng and 15 passengers, including the bus driver, were injured in the accident. In another road accident, a 30-year-old man of Landi Kotal was run over and killed by a speeding vehicle when he was crossing a road. The other people injured in road accidents are: Ruqaya, Nadeem, Hassan, Faheem, Naseer Ahmad, Shehnaz, Asim and Faisal.

Lahorites during a survey conducted by The News have unanimously appealed to Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif to take a revolutionary step for resolving core issue of traffic in Lahore.

They said positive and comprehensive strategy could help maintain traffic flow while the ratio of traffic accidents could also be reduced. This correspondent tried to contact acting CTO Imran Arshad and DIG City Traffic Police Ghalib Ali Bandesha but they were not available for comments.