PESHAWAR: Despite launch of the traffic warden service by the police department the traffic situation in the provincial metropolis is likely to worsen as the transport department continues to issue new vehicle permits with no concrete planning to overcome the existing problems.

Some 2,000 fresh permits have been issued to taxi cabs during the past few months at a time when the existing roads have become insufficient for the huge traffic. A reliable source in the transport department told Dawn that the new permits were adding to the traffic problems because majority of the newly permitted vehicles had come from different districts and tribal regions and they were supposed to go back to respective areas to reduce the burden on the roads in Peshawar.

The source said that most of the yellow cabs used to be ply in the rural areas or on the roads of Hayatabad Township to avoid heavy penalties by traffic police, but after getting the permits these vehicles all of a sudden came on the roads in cantonment and city areas, adding to miseries of the citizens.

When contacted, RTA Secretary Niamatullah Khan said that about 1,400 permits had been issued to the taxi cabs which had increased the revenue of the provincial government. He said that these vehicles also plied on the roads in the past, but they did not contribute to the provincial kitty. He said that now everyone would pay at least Rs2,100 per permit and they would also pay fines in case of violations on the city roads.

SSP says transport department should remove old vehicles from city roads

However, Peshawar traffic SSP Wahid Mehmood said that before issuing new permits the transport department was bound to ensure disposal of the outdated vehicles so that the traffic volume on the roads could be reduced. Sharing figures of a survey conducted by urban planning unit in Jan 2014, he said that some 70,000 auto-rickshaw existed in Peshawar which alone are sufficient enough to cover the roads.

In Peshawar, there are 350,000 registered and 450,000 non-registered vehicles. He said that of these vehicles about 8,000 were very old, but still being used as public transport.

The SSP said that legally the vehicles older than nine years could not ply on the category ‘A’ road, older than 11 years even on category ‘B’ road, while those older than 15 years could not be allowed to use category ‘C’ roads. However, in Peshawar there is no check on vehicles, which also add to pollution and create traffic problems.

He said that the new traffic warden service had been launched on the basis of existing staff and vehicles because 669 new personnel would be recruited through public service commission. He said that most of the traffic problems pertained to the infrastructure. He said that establishment of the traffic engineering and planning agency was need of the hour to keep regular check on the traffic movement and bring the relevant changes in roads.

Similarly, he called for implementation of the bylaws by the civic bodies to ban construction of buildings unless they ensured parking lots. He said that it was duty of the relevant departments to remove all the outdated vehicles from the roads and bring quality transport to facilitate the passengers and save the environment as well. He also suggested formation of a combined squad for checking the unregistered and low standard vehicles at least at Pir Zakori Bridge, Amn Chowk and Hayatabad.

The SSP said that one of the traffic problems was increase in the number of Afghan Transit Trade vehicles because over 1,000 vehicles passed daily through the Peshawar roads. He said that the influx of 0.2 million IDPs and absence of link roads and parking places/ plazas were other reasons for the traffic chaos. The bus stands and wholesale markets within the city area were also contributing to the problems.

He said that linking of all the main arteries was necessary because the permanent closure of 20 roads in cantonment area due to security reasons had caused much inconvenience where daily traffic volume had reached up to 750,000.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play