The flow of traffic and number of accidents in Lahore has not been reduced despite the construction of wide signal-free roads, apparently because of the increasing number of vehicles in the city.
According to the record of the Motor Registration Authority of the Punjab Excise and Taxation Department, a total of 3.99 million vehicles have been registered in Lahore during the past decade. The vehicles include motorcycles, cars, SUVs, rickshaws, ambulances, tractors, trucks, vans and cabs.
Billions of rupees in revenue have been earned through the registration but the vehicles are not only polluting the atmosphere of Lahore but also causing a lot of traffic problems and accidents.
According to the record, the highest number of vehicles registered in the city is of motorcycles with 2.95 million two-wheelers registered during the past 10 years. As many as 794,381 cars, 119,703 rickshaws, 23,149 tractors, 26,885 trucks, 3,950 double-cabin vehicles, 17,475 buses, 1,884 ambulances, 39,553 vans, 11,570 taxis and 2,398 cranes were registered during the period.
However, thousands of loader rickshaws have not yet been registered due to a dispute between the transport department and the manufacturers, although they are plying on all roads in Lahore.
According to Motor Registration Authority Director Rana Qamarul Hassan Sajjad, the job of the excise and taxation department is to register any vehicle under the law. Documents of the vehicles are checked and then they are allotted the registration numbers according to the law. If any person meets the legal requirements, the department is obliged to register the vehicle.
According to officials of the excise and taxation department, if the registration of motorcycles, rickshaws, loading vehicles, vans and cars in Lahore continues at the current rate, it would become impossible to travel in the city.
Traffic flow on Ferozepur Road, Jail Road, The Mall and other important thoroughfares of Lahore is increasing. The wardens are failing to control the traffic. The government also runs the Metro bus and Orange Line train along Jail Road, Mall Road and Ferozepur Road but despite this the people prefer their own vehicles. Dozens of people are injured in accidents every day due to increasing traffic despite the efforts of the wardens for their safety. Traffic jams for hours have also become common.
When contacted, Lahore Chief Traffic Officer Syed Hammad Abid said the increasing number of vehicles was becoming a very serious issue and the wardens alone could not do much without the support of the citizens. “We have to adopt the habit of group travel. No matter how much the roads are widened, it will not solve the traffic problems caused by the rate at which motorcycles and other vehicles are being registered.”
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The official added, “We have sent various suggestions to the Punjab government to increase the bus services on the routes where there is a lot of traffic and to make a law for limiting the registration of various types of vehicles per year.”
He said a separate lane for motorcycles and rickshaws must be earmarked on the roads constructed in future. The public transport system needs to be improved so that people can easily reach their destinations. He pointed that the Orange Line metro train had a capacity of 2.5 million passengers but around 130,000 people travelled on it in a month. More than a million vehicles of Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and other cities run in Lahore, while thousands more enter the city daily.
This increases the workload of the 3,000 traffic wardens serving in the city. Lahore has become the most polluted city because of such a large number of vehicles.
To cope with the situation, the departments of excise and taxation, transport, Traffic Engineering Planning Agency and other authorities concerned will have to take steps under a coordinated plan using modern technology. A detailed report in this regard has been submitted to the Punjab government.
On the other hand, a resident of an area near Ferozepur Road, Imtiaz Mirza said the Metro bus service was good but he had to go half way to his office by the service and take a cab or rickshaw to cover the remaining distance. “So I have bought a motorcycle.” Amir, a resident of the Cantt area, said the buses were often late and their fare was high.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2021.
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