A NEVER ENDING MESS
A must read for all the citizens of Karachi.
KARACHI: A constable is attacked at his post and gets his clothes torn by an irritated driver who is stopped by the policeman from accessing the wrong side of the road.
The next day, another constable has replaced the injured officer to man the site where road construction is taking place. But fearing for his safety, he stands apart on the pavement away from the traffic flow using a barrier to stop the vehicles rather than facing the peril of the oncoming cars (and their drivers). He has also taken extra measures by submitting an application along with Rs,2000 asking for a transfer from this post. As he stands tensely on the pavement, the nervousness is apparent from his demeanour when he says, “We are so fed up of diverting traffic all the time, dealing with unruly commuters and having no solutions for the road jams created because of the dug up roads. This is a pathetic and thankless existence and I want to get away from this mess.” To part with Rs2,000 from his meager income of Rs5,000 or so indicates how harassed constable Naveed must be and how severe the situation.
Encountering dug up roads at every stretch and with hardly any alternate routes to turn to, the commuters as well as the traffic police are being cornered into a situation which remains fraught with tension. Small riots, abuses and collisions are almost a daily routine especially at prime travel time, which are the office rush hours. Traffic policemen either give up on the traffic and stand aside or end up abusing small time offenders like mobile phone users or motorcycle riders without helmets. The gunning down of an innocent civilian on Sunday, because he overstepped the signal is a frightening case in point regarding edgy policemen the moment they are able to exercise their authority.
Unplanned construction and ill-timed and mismanaged repair work is a nuisance unleashed in Karachi by the city government. It has destroyed Karachi’s traffic system as each morning springs a new surprise on the travelers and one suddenly finds a new route closed for repair work.
Parking violations abound and the traffic constables posted in these areas can only look on powerlessly. Neither can they stop illegal parking because there is no legal parking space available, nor can they stop cars from wedging into wrong spaces since a proper road is unavailable.
Each driver seems to make his own rule because the impediments on the roads are so many. As for buses, they never follow any traffic law to begin with and the police never attempt to penalize them for their lawlessness when they stop their vehicles in the middle of main roads. Main avenues have actually become parking areas for trailers, tankers and buses and there is no authority to check the practice. Finding alternate routes is near impossible and one may either stay in a jam or traverse over dirt tracks. In certain residential areas, influential citizens have barred entry of vehicles (mostly those seeking alternate routes) until they are cleared by a resident. In Lalazar, cars are stopped from entering by order of the KPT chairman so that the area does not turn into a thoroughfare and a policeman apologetically bars the entry knowing fully well that the order has no legal ground.
DIG Traffic Falak Khursheed has said a number of times that the traffic police are helpless in terms of road management which in turn effects traffic management. He has asserted that his department cannot even put up road signs and signals on its own initiative. It is for, “the road’s ‘owning authority’ to do that,” he says. Lane demarcations, detouring and rerouting procedures come under the authority which owns the road, be it the city government, the cantonment boards or the DHA, hence the mess on the roads which is the residue of the mismanagement of these departments.
Having destroyed Karachi’s traffic system because of its numerous construction projects, the city nazim is now thinking of taking over the traffic department. If one were to gauge his performance by the appalling management skills shown by his government in road construction and city management affairs, it is with dread that the citizens wait for the city district government to get sole management of traffic as well. How the accountability chain will work is anybody’s guess.
As it is, ministers and parliamentarians consider themselves above the law especially with regards to traffic rules and are hardly ever made to pay their fines. The incident of the ruckus raised when an unfortunate police constable was bold enough to fine a senior minister for a road violation is a sure example of how things would turn out if the entire traffic management went into the city government’s hands.
While the minister for transport has issued strict directives a number of times in the past few months regarding severe penalty for traffic violators, the situation is far too complex to be controlled with just that one dictate. A report had exposed that 40 federal ministers, eight provincial ministers and 55 parliamentarians have been issued traffic violation tickets, but, to what effect?
A crisis is looming because nearly 500 new cars are being registered daily in Karachi alone and road laws are diminishing at the same speed. Installing a computerized car registration system to enable the traffic constable to simply note the number of the offending vehicle and issue a charge later would be a start. Besides, many trailers and buses don’t even have license plates or they aren’t displayed properly. Why aren’t these ever impounded? Licenses should only be issued following a written test to ensure that each driver is cognizant of the basic traffic rules, which most drivers seem to be unaware of. They don’t even have a clue of how to switch lanes or what right of way means.
A severe cleansing of corrupt officials in the transport department as well as the traffic department of the police is also much needed. As per the present system, even if the traffic police detain drivers of buses, tankers or any other commercial vehicle, the issue goes to the transport secretary following which the Regional Transport Authority decides whether they cancel the license or forgive the offender. This means that with the ‘right contacts’ the offenders easily buy their freedom and then it is back to the road for them to carry on their offensive driving.
While stricter penalties may be one of the answers to curb traffic violations, it is the entire road system which is mismanaged. Pakistan is already one of the most heavily legislated countries but its citizens are habitually abusing traffic laws fighting to find a way out of the jam created through mismanagement. Where does one lay the blame?
The traffic department of the police is losing its authority over the public and failing in its job.
The city government too has only worsened the situation by its unplanned construction projects undertaken without any input from professional city planners.
It is now perhaps up to the Sindh Chief Minister who has so far remained aloof from the core issues of Karachi, to step in for a scientifically planned solution. After all, he has made a new ‘think tank’ for such a purpose. Convincing the president that economic fallout in Karachi will inevitably occur, he must make his presence felt and get a ‘top priority’ directive to involve expert town planners who still might be able to avert a road calamity in Karachi.
Courtesy DAWN