Highway patrol comes to Pindi for traffic control
People are shopping in a crowded market of Rawalpindi where traders refused to follow lockdown orders issued by the Punjab government.. PHOTO: ONLINE
Punjab Highway Patrol (PHP) police will have their jurisdiction extended to the roads linking the four districts of the Rawalpindi division.
In a bid to curtail violations of traffic rules, over speeding and overloading, and reduce road accidents on highways, the One-District-One-Road (ODOR) project has been launched in all four districts of the Rawalpindi division, officials told The Express Tribune.
The project has been introduced in Rawalpindi after garnering success in Sargodha and DG Khan. PHP officials said that around 40% reduction in accidents has been recorded in Sargodha and DG Khan where the project was launched on a trial basis.
They claimed that the motorists have also started to follow traffic laws after enforcement of the system.
PHP officials said that the project was being launched in the Rawalpindi division due to the personal efforts of PHP Rawalpindi Region SSP Sajid Kiyani.
They added that traffic management for reducing the number of road accidents on highways and connecting roads was the goal of ODOR.
Traffic police of the respective district and PHP would work together under the project.
Further, the road users violating traffic rules would not only be fined but face strict legal action, leading to the impounding of vehicles, too.
PHP officials informed that in the initial phase, the joint working would be done on different highways and connecting roads in the Rawalpindi division including Mandra-Chakwal Road, Chakwal-Jhelum Road, Jhelum-Pind Dadan Khan Road, and Fateh Jhang- Kohat Road. There would be punitive action against the motorists involved in over speeding and overloading of vehicles.
Special teams have been constituted under the ODOR project that would patrol on the related roads. The teams would also ensure the implementation of traffic rules by passenger and transport vehicles.
PHP officials said that the teams would also sensitise the road-users regarding traffic rules so that the project could become successful through mutual cooperation.
Earlier this month, Punjab Highway Patrol Additional IG Zafar Iqbal Awan and Traffic Additional IG Sahibzada Shehzad Sultan chaired a meeting at Central Police Office (CPO) Lahore where it was asserted that mobile education units of PHP would conduct traffic law awareness campaigns at educational institutions and public places in which the people would be made aware of traffic rules through verbal directions and brochures.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 1st, 2020.