ISLAMABAD: A recent survey conducted by the capital police revealed that no road blockade or obstructions in the city was unnecessary or without utility.
Some two weeks ago, a sub-committee of Senate Standing Committee on Interior asked the Islamabad administration to gauge the need for road blockades in front of different hotels and other obstructions placed all over the city in the name of security.
In response, the sub-committee was told that these measures were taken in the aftermath of Marriott bombing and were serving as effective deterrents to any untoward incident.
“The committee understood our point regarding the compulsion to maintain security checks in front of hotels,” Deputy Commissioner (DC) Islamabad Amir Ali Ahmad told The Express Tribune. “They then tasked us with conducting a survey and come with suggestions to remove barricades without compromising the security,” he added.
However the survey, DC Ahmad said, did not yield any feasible solutions to the problem of commuters, who are facing hurdles in moving about the city. “[The report] was merely a fact sheet recounting the number and places of barricades around the city,” Ahmad revealed.
Therefore, the report which was sent to the office of SSP Tahir Alam Khan, was not forwarded to the city administration and has instead been redirected to the police. This time, DC Ahmad said, clear instructions have been issued to conduct a comprehensive survey to identify areas where obstructions could be removed.
According to the report, barricades have been placed on 115 different locations of the city. Furthermore, roads have been completely blocked at no less than 10 points. These points are mainly located next to offices of foreign missions or important government installations.
An area-wise distribution of the road blockades shows that three blockades are located in Sabzi Mandi Police Station’s jurisdiction, 51 in the Kohsar Police Station area, 25 in Shalimar, 19 in Margalla, five in Aabpara, one at Bhara Kahu and Golra and a few others in the Diplomatic Enclave.
The report fails to mention several road blockades and barricades at other places in the city. It did not include the blockades in front of the office of Federal Investigation Agency in G-9/4, outside the office of National Counter Terrorism Authority in sector F-8 and permanent road blockade on Khayaban-e-Suharwardy in G-7.
The report also failed to mention the road in front of the Islamabad City Police office in F-7/1, which has been permanently closed to traffic by putting up a concrete wall. Inspector General of Police Kaleem Imam has his office in this police station.
DC Ahmad told The Express Tribune that the unauthorised road blockades will be removed and those responsible would be dealt with an iron hand.
“We will take strict measures against all those occupying government land unless they have an arrangement with the Capital Development Authority.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2010.
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