HTVs flagrantly flout city entry ban
Large trucks laden with containers carrying NATO supplies are parked at a terminal in Karachi. The movement of heavy vehicles has been restricted during the daytime in the city. PHOTO: FILE
The brazen flouting of a ban on entry of heavy vehicles to Rawalpindi city in the daytime has reached its peak, causing grueling traffic snarl-ups and jams on various major roads during peak hours.
City roads have also been severely damaged by these heavy vehicles, especially the 22-wheeler heavy trawlers.
Despite the instructions of the Rawalpindi commissioner and the Rawalpindi station commander, traffic police have failed to enforce the ban on the daytime entry of heavy vehicles to the city.
According to the ban, heavy vehicles can enter certain areas of the city and Cantonment from 11 pm to 6 am.
The ban on heavy transport vehicles’ entry is aimed at maintaining the flow of traffic on city roads and facilitating citizens to travel without hassle.
Due to violation of the ban by heavy transport vehicles during peak hours, traffic remains stuck at Khayaban Sir Syed, Pirwadhai, Gawalmandi, Dhok Rata, Bakery Chowk, Marble Factory, Bhata Chowk, Misryal Road, Range Road, Chauhar Chowk, 22 Number Chungi, Kalma Chowk, Dhamyal Chowk and Chakri Road.
Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din, a resident of Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, said that from 8 am to 9 pm, freight dumpers, containers and oil tankers enter Khayaban-e-Sir Syed from CDA Chowk and proceed to Raja Bazaar via Mohammadi Chowk. As soon as the heavy transport enters the city, motorists get stuck on Sir Syed Road and the adjoining link roads, he said.
He further said that the entry of heavy vehicles was not only causing traffic jams but also severely damaging the road infrastructure since city roads and streets have been carpeted for ordinary vehicles.
He said that these city roads could not bear the load of large vehicles and were prone to rupture at different places besides these heavy vehicles collide with electric wires every day, which severely affects the supply of electricity.
Muhammad Bilal, a resident of Gawalmandi, said that heavy vehicles were allowed to enter the city from Bakery Chowk at 9 pm in sheer violation of the ban.
Heavy vehicles were allowed to pass through Transit Camp Chowk and Dhok Rata Road from Gawalmandi Chowk to Marrir Chowk and further to Murree Road, which disrupts the routine traffic system.
He went on to say that heavy vehicles also flout the ban on overloading and continue to honk horns, which has made the lives of the people living in inner-city miserable. He said that authorities must enforce the ban on entry of heavy transport to the city.
A spokesman for the traffic police said that special pickets had been set up near IJP, GT Road and Faizabad Interchange to ensure the non-entry of heavy vehicles to the city during the daytime. He said that a new picket has been set up at Bhata Chowk to stop the entry of heavy transport to the city.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2022.