Zebra crossings disappearing from roads

Pedestrians, differently-abled struggle to manoeuvre through the dense traffic of the port city

KARACHI:

Where zebra crossings are an indispensable part of maintaining pedestrian activity in popular commercial centres across the world, in Pakistan, they are nothing but a precise arrangement of white stripes meant to beautify the dull grey roads.

Due to the lack of attention of the government departments, the majority of the roads in the port city display a faded or non-existent zebra crossing sign, creating inconvenience for the pedestrians. Even when some roads display the pedestrian sign, most drivers and pedestrians have no awareness on the purpose of the white stripes.

For instance, Sartaj Ahmad, a rickshaw driver spotted at Numaish Chowrangi, revealed that he had been involved in the profession since the past three years. However, upon being questioned by the correspondent on his knowledge of zebra crossings, Ahmad, was completely unaware of the purpose of the sign.

"The zebra crossing is a designated way for people to cross the road. It involves white stripes spaced at a short distance. When the traffic light is red, it means that you should stop your vehicles before the zebra crossing, so that the pedestrians can cross the road easily by passing through this sign. Unfortunately, however, most drivers are unaware of the importance of this sign. Furthermore, zebra crossings are no longer clearly visible on the roads creating a host of problems for pedestrians especially those with special mobility needs," said Sadia Jabeen, an urban planner and senior civil engineer at the University of Karachi.

Fatima Sarfraz, a differently-abled citizen on a wheelchair shared that she had damaged one of her legs in an accident. "I rely on a wheelchair to get around the city. The lack of zebra crossings makes it difficult for me to cross the road," complained Sarfraz.

During a survey conducted by the Express Tribune, it was observed that there were no zebra crossings on the majority of the main roads in the city, including Bandar Road, Maripur, MA Jinnah Road, II Chundrigar Road, Jahangir Road, Shahrah-e-Pakistan and Sir Shah Sulaiman Road.

"Due to the absence of zebra crossings on the roads, accidents occur daily on most of the highways of the city, where 25 to 30 people are injured while crossing the road. While some people get minor injuries others end up with serious injuries. The government needs to run a campaign to make people aware of traffic rules," urged Dr Sabir Memon, Executive Director of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Trauma Centre.

Officials from the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) revealed that there were more than 106 roads under KMC. "It is true that the majority of the roads do not have zebra crossings and traffic signals," confirmed the officials.

DIG Traffic Karachi, Ahmad Nawaz maintained that the Traffic Police tried their best to help people cross the road in the absence of zebra crossings. "We have approached the concerned authorities to display this mark on the roads," said Nawaz.

While addressing the concerns, Yousaf Iqbal, Senior Director of KDA's Traffic Engineering Bureau, claimed that the zebra crossing signs had disappeared due to dilapidated roads. "We are facing a shortage of funds for the repair of roads, and we have approached the government in this regard," claimed Iqbal.

Zubair Memon, spokesperson of the Sindh Local Government Department, assured that the Local Government Minister had instructed the KMC and related agencies to work on improving the visibility of zebra crossings and condition of traffic signals on the roads to ensure a smooth flow of pedestrians and traffic.