Hazard in the making: A new year with no traffic lights?

An unresolved payment issue may leave all traffic signals in Karachi out of order come 2020

KARACHI: New year celebrations may be a light-driven affair in most parts of the world, but Karachi's motorists may be left in the dark come 2020. No, we don't mean streetlights.

Thanks to an unresolved payment issue, drivers in the city may be forced to navigate its streets without the aid of traffic signals as they enter the new year.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, sources associated with the traffic authorities said the financial crisis the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) is facing is now threatening to shut down all signals in the metropolis. According to them, the contractor repairing the signals has warned that it will stop servicing all of them should KDA fail to pay the Rs20 million in arrears the authority has racked up over the past 20 months by January 1.



Most of the city's traffic signals are being repaired over and over on a daily basis at present, a situation borne out of lack of timely maintenance on account of the financial crunch. The sources said the absence of these day to day repairs could result in the signals not working at all, drastically increasing the risk of traffic jams and accidents.

Of the 163 signals installed on the city's main arteries, 101 are controlled by the KDA Traffic Engineering Bureau (TEB). Of the remainder, 60 are operated by the Clifton Cantonment Board and two by the Civil Aviation Authority.

The operation of all is assigned to the Traffic Police, but its officials only turn the signals on and off. All other work, such as maintenance, repair and payment of electricity bills, is carried out by other concerned departments.

According to TEB officials, they control the signals via an urban traffic control (UTC) system, which allows operators to set timings according to traffic volume round the day. The bureau, they said, has awarded the annual repair contract to a firm called Silicon Communications and Security.

PHOTO: REUTERS

In a recent letter to the KDA director general, the contractor warned that it could not continue its services unless the Rs20 million it is owed is paid by January 1. The company pointed out that its own financial health was under immense strain at present, making it difficult for it to continue installation and repair work on new and old traffic signals. The letter - which was dispatched to the chief secretary, local government secretary, deputy inspector general traffic and other senior officials as well - also stressed that dues were not cleared despite repeated reminders from the company and verbal assurances form KDA representatives.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a KDA finance department official admitted that the authority has been under immense financial strain for the past eight months. "The grant we recently received from the Sindh government is being used to pay off the salaries and pensions," the official said.

"Just a few days ago, we finally managed to pay the salaries and pensions to employees of grade 1 to 15. Other officers are set to be paid this week, but a months-long deadlock persists," he added.

"Under the KDA DG's orders, we are working to bring about a turnaround in the authority's financial position, but any real improvement is contingent on resolving this deadlock." According to the official, the authority in the meantime will request the Sindh government for another grant to pay the contractor's dues.

When contacted, TEB Senior Director Naveed Azhar said they were aware of the sensitivity of the issue and are working to ensure the dues are cleared despite the immense crunch KDA is under.

A file photo of local buses in Karachi. PHOTO: EXPRESS

Many of Karachi's traffic signals have been uprooted due to ongoing development work in the city and need to be reinstalled. The construction work has also damaged many underground power cables, further complicating the reinstallation process along with creating issues with other untouched signals nearby. In the absence of signals, Traffic Police officials direct traffic manually which more often than not increases frustration among motorists.