Incidents of pedestrians being hit by motorists while crossing the road have also been reported on the Kashmir Highway. PHOTO: INP
The Islamabad Expressway and the IJ Principal Road, the main thoroughfare linking Islamabad with Rawalpindi and other cities, witness 90 per cent of road accidents every month and a senior police official said that they were operating above capacity and unable to meet the traffic load.
“More than 90 per cent road accidents in Islamabad are reported from these two roads,” Islamabad Traffic Police SSP Malik Matloob Ahmad said adding that they were ‘overburdened’ and unable to meet the traffic load. At least 10 persons were killed and 13 injured in different road accidents in Islamabad in May.
Almost Rs10 billion PSDP spending marked for capital
Two road fatalities each took place within the Koral and Sabzi Mandi police jurisdictions while one each within the Secretariat, Shalimar, Shahzad Town, Khanna, Sihala and Nilore police jurisdictions.
A total of 10 persons were killed while 13 injured in a total of 21 road accidents during the last month.
The actual number of road accidents was much higher since most accidents were not reported to the police as ‘parties’ sought an out-of-court settlement.
Of the 21 accidents registered by the police, 11 involved motorcyclists.
In two incidents, speeding cars ploughed into people standing at a bus stop, killing two girls and injuring another.
SSP Ahmad said more than 300,000 vehicles enter Islamabad every day. “Capital’s road infrastructure is unable to accommodate this influx,” he said adding that Islamabad has more or less the same road infrastructure it had in 1992.
While talking about congested Islamabad Expressway, he said, “It is the only ‘expressway’ in the world which has housing colonies and commercial plazas on both sides without any service road.” This, he said, has created many difficulties for road users as well as traffic police.
Infrastructure: ‘Rural roads project continuing successfully’
He said the only solution to minimise traffic burden on the Expressway and IJP Road was to build a by-pass for heavy traffic plying between Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Ahmad said that improving road infrastructure for motorists as well as pedestrians was the responsibility of the Capital Development Authority (CDA). “We have written countless letters to the CDA, recommending ways to facilitate road users [but to no avail]. The current infrastructure in no way meets the needs,” said the SSP.
Though the CDA has spent more than Rs4 billion on expansion of the Kashmir Highway, the five-lane road has only one overhead pedestrian crossing at Zero Point, forcing people to walk across the road through fast moving traffic.
Incidents of pedestrians being hit by motorists while crossing the road have also been reported from the Kashmir Highway.
Islamabad, Ashgabat eye road and air links
Deeba Shahnaz Akhter, an emergency officer and trainer at Rescue 1122, said that a major challenge for the traffic police was to regulate pedestrians. “A driver violating traffic rules can be fined but what to do when a pedestrian walk across the road, instead of using the overhead facilities,” said Akhter.
Student amputated after being hit by car
A student of a private university has been amputated after she was hit and injured by a speeding car. Komal Nisa, 21, a student of physiotherapy, was waiting for her university bus by the roadside when a speeding car hit her.
She was taken to a hospital where doctors performed several surgeries before amputating one of her legs below the knee.
Though the police arrested and booked car driver car, he was released on bail a day later. Babar Hussain, the victim’s brother, said the family had incurred more than Rs2.2 million on treatment of the patient, while she was still admitted to the hospital.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2016.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ