Regardless of how experienced or calculated a driver behind the wheel is, the presence of towering freight vehicles on the road is the surefire sign of either an endless gridlock or a deadly car collision.
Karachi, also known as the port city, acts as an industrial gateway to the country by facilitating the transport of goods to and from the interior, landlocked provinces through heavy vehicles. To accommodate this large cohort of freight vehicles in a populated city like Karachi, in 2007 the Supreme Court allotted a fixed entry time of 11pm for all heavy vehicles thereby banning their operation across roads in the city from 6am to 11pm. However, contrary to initial expectations the policy has failed to curtail the nuisance caused by freight vehicles, which enter avenues across the city in bulk, much to the dismay of late-night commuters.
Khuda Baksh, an officer, whose shift ends at 11pm, shared his struggle to reach his home in Saddar from his office located at Qayyumabad Chowrangi. “Every night after 11pm, trucks, trailers, and tankers come on the roads in such large numbers that no space is left for light weight vehicles to pass. It’s almost like a flood of heavy vehicles has come on the road all of a sudden. As a result, it takes me an hour to reach home, even though in the morning hours it takes me only 15 minutes,” said Baksh.
Similarly, Akbar Ali and his friends, who work the evening shift at various offices located in the commercial area of DHA Phase 2, also revealed that they face a similar situation when their duty ends at 11pm. “We have to reach Liaquatabad via Korangi Road on our motorcycles. It does not take us as much time to reach our homes as much as it takes to reach the DHA diversion signal from Qayyumabad due to the influx of cargo trucks,” he lamented.
In addition to incessant gridlocks, official data also suggests that 71 out of 193 road accidents that took place in Karachi last year were caused by trucks, trailers, and tankers. Similarly, out of the 102 accidents that occurred during the first months of this year, 36 accidents were caused by heavy vehicles.
Upon recognizing the perils and inconveniences of freight vehicles on roads, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab and the Governor of Sindh wrote a letter to the National Highway Authority (NHA) requesting the diversion of heavy vehicles through the Lyari Expressway.
While the NHA has yet to respond to the request, traffic experts express their skepticism towards the proposal for several reasons.
“The design of the Lyari Expressway is not such that large vehicles can pass through it. Anytime a vehicle breaks down, it will be stuck there without any way out. Furthermore, not all trucks, tankers, and trawlers entering Karachi go to the Karachi port, and conversely not all large vehicles go upcountry from the port,” explained a senior officer from the Traffic Police.
In this regard, when the DIG Traffic Police Karachi Ahmed Nawaz Cheema was contacted by The Express Tribune, he reiterated the policy that trucks and other heavy vehicles had to complete their journey within a limited time. “For this reason, they wait till 11pm after loading their vehicles. We are working on ways to improve the movement of other vehicles during the night hours. One proposal is to allow containers up to 20 feet in height or less to enter the city during daytime hours. This move may be useful in solving the problems arising due to simultaneous entry of all heavy vehicles but due to the ban imposed by the court this proposal cannot be implemented at present,” commented Cheema.
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