The authority needs to develop institutes for heavy vehicle fitness testing similar to that of CNG cylinders
KARACHI: Karachi traffic police wardens are doing a splendid job at the operational level to keep the flow of transportation vehicles during peak hours. However, due to lack of strategic planning at the government level that includes the absence of road infrastructure for the traffic load in Karachi, movement of heavy-duty vehicles and limited human resource for several bottleneck points in the city; traffic movement is no less than a nightmare during peak hours. Despite the ban imposed by the Supreme Court on heavy vehicles’ movement in Karachi between 6am and 11pm, heavy vehicles appear routinely in the rush hour.
Traffic jams are mostly caused by a breakdown of heavy-duty vehicles. In developed nations, there are procedures like heavy vehicle breakdown response service by road and transportation authorities that remove the heavy vehicles during breakdowns on emergency basis. But considering the sluggish improvement in our transportation system, it would take years to put such a system in place.
The transportation authority and the Karachi traffic police should develop a heavy vehicle fitness checklist based on monthly frequency that will drastically reduce the movement. They need to develop institutes for heavy vehicle fitness testing similar to that of CNG cylinders, ie, the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan. Such a system will reduce frequent breakdowns of heavy-duty vehicles in the city that causes traffic jams.
S Waqas Imam
Published in The Express Tribune, May 14th, 2017.
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