KARACHI: A debate is currently under way in the corridors of power whether the traffic police department should remain a provincial subject or be devolved to the city district government as envisaged in the original Sindh Local Government Ordinance-2001.

Though the ordinance, whereby the new local government system came in to being, had also envisaged merger of traffic police department, driving licence department, motor-vehicle inspectors’ wing and the regional transport authority into the city district government’s transport department, a chapter concerning these departments was withheld at the last moment by the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) after some senior police officials had expressed their serious reservations over the merger.

The officials’ plea was that all these were the revenue generating departments and once they were devolved to the city government, the police department would start facing a serious financial crunch.

However, the RTA was later devolved to the CDGK.

Shortly afterwards, a committee of senior police officials, including former Sindh police chief Dr Shoaib Suddle, was set up by the NRB for reframing the SLGO’s chapter concerning the police departments. The committee’s recommendation that traffic police department, driving licence department and MVI wing should be retained by the police department was later on introduced as the ‘Police Order-2002’.

However, the traffic police department’s failure in managing the city’s traffic and containing the number of fatal accidents, especially those involving pedestrians as victims, besides rampant corruption in the driving licence department and other lapses, are being viewed and deliberated upon seriously by the people at the helm of the affairs. “It won’t be out of context if it is pointed out that the number of pedestrians either being crushed to death under the wheels of recklessly driven vehicles on roads or near zebra crossings has exceeded the number of those being killed by vehicles,” sources said.

According to sources, the disturbing reports concerning the city’s unruly traffic and ineffective handling by the traffic police have been brought to the knowledge of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and he may be taking some concrete decision about transfer/devolution of traffic police and licence department to the city government after discussing the issue with NRB officials.

“In fact, the city’s Traffic Management Board, which was formed recently by the premier with City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal being its chief for bringing improvement in the city’s transport and traffic system, has failed to deliver merely because it is just a recommending authority. It is not obligatory upon the traffic police department to implement its decisions in letter and spirit,” the sources said, adding that such reports have already been conveyed to the prime minister who is likely to take up the issue with the city nazim and senior officials of the traffic police before taking a decision concerning the devolution of traffic police and licence department to the CDGK.

The sources, however, are of the opinion that if these departments are devolved to the city government at any stage, the CDGK will have to grant substantial increase in the salaries of traffic police officials to enable them to utilise their potential in getting the traffic laws implemented in letter and spirit, instead of continuing with their alleged practice of extorting those found violating traffic rules.

“Isn’t it an irony that traffic cops have developed the habit of hiding somewhere away from a traffic signals until an errant driver violates a red signal or some other traffic rule?” some concerned citizens asked. The cops would jump into the scene only to challan or extort the driver,” they observed.

They suggested that presence of traffic cops at zebra-crossings could serve as a deterrent as by making their presence felt, they would not only be able to prevent any possible harm coming to pedestrians by drivers of rashly driver vehicles, but could also help pedestrians cross the busy roads with a sense of safety. Besides, they could also keep a strict check on any violation of traffic signal, they added.

Underscoring the need for changing the colour of traffic police uniform, they said that, in fact, citizens had now got tired of the uniform they had been seeing for more than five decades.