Roadkill: The light is always green in shady DHA signal deal

Contractor responsible for DHA, CBC signals given more business despite questionable performance.

KARACHI:

Every third traffic signal in Clifton and Defence Housing Authority (DHA) is out of order but instead of fixing them, the cantonment board has ordered new multi-million rupee motion-detecting signals at new intersections.

As things stand, these neighbourhoods possibly have the most traffic signals per square kilometre in Karachi, which is not necessarily a good thing. Unlike the city government, which has a Traffic Engineering Bureau that first surveys the area to determine traffic patterns before installing signals, DHA and Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) do it on the whim of certain untrained officials. As a result, there are signals where mere stop signs would suffice.

There are about 56 signals in operation. Some are located at the busiest intersections, such as the one at Khayaban-e-Hafiz where it cuts B-street. But they are mostly out of order.  “Definitely, we are not happy with the situation,” admits Faruq Dawood, the chairman of the CBC Traffic Committee, which looks into resident complaints. “It is the job of the contractor to ensure traffic signals work properly round the clock.”

Faruk, a resident himself, said that CBC pays Rs5,000 per signal every month to the contractor - PGE. “They are responsible for the maintenance.” For 56 signals, the monthly bill comes to Rs280,000. It is tax payer money that is wasted, say residents, as most signals are not working.

But this is not all. The same contractor, who cannot keep the signals working, has now been given another multi-million project to install hi-tech signals along Khayaban-e-Shamsheer. “Unfortunately, this company has a monopoly in this business. No one else responds to the tenders,” admits Faruk.

These new signals, which have a smart system of identifying the load on roads and adjusting red or green lights accordingly, cost up to two million rupees each.

For their part however, PGE says traffic signals are not their problem. “We do have problems with few signals, otherwise everything is okay,” said PGE Chief Executive Zafar Naveed. “I have two men riding on a bike all day long just to make sure the signals are running.” For those that are not working, Naveed blames the traffic police, “who often turn off the lights.” He added that there is no centralised system to manage the traffic. All the signals have to be manually controlled.

He was excited about the new hi-tech signals, which he said cost between Rs1.5 million and Rs2 million. PGE plans to set up 12 of them.

The PGE chief and some DHA and CBC officials may be happy with this arrangement, but perhaps the same cannot be said for the thousands of people who pass through DHA and CBC each day. For example, if you drive on Khayaban-e-Muhafiz, you have to slow down at the continuously blinking orange light at some spots such as the intersection with Khayaban-e-Shaheen.

CBC’s senior engineer Abid Shah blamed frequent power breakdowns. “Only a few signals have an alternate power supply system,” he explained. But the power supply is not the issue. Many signals are simply broken. In most of them, one light or the other has fused, which means that motorists have to guess which light is on and which is off.

When pushed to explain the rationale behind the permanent closure of some signals, the CBC’s Shah criticised the police. “Often the signals are shut off for the movement of VIP vehicles. But then they forget to turn it on again.”

How bad is it?

A cursory survey of DHA by The Express Tribune revealed that many signals have been out of order for months. This has been the case with the traffic signal on the intersection of the 3rd Zamzama Street and Zamzama Boulevard. Similarly, on Khayaban-e-Shujaat, two signals on the intersection of E-Street and Khayaban-e-Tanzeem are out of order.

Along Khayaban-e-Badar, the traffic lights do not work properly at the intersection with Khayaban-e--Shaheen. Khayaban-e-Hafiz is the busiest road in DHA after Khayaban-e-Ittehad. At least three signals are malfunctioning on this road at the intersections of Muhafiz, Rahat and B-street.

Coming on to Saba Avenue, the lights blink red and yellow all the time at Khayaban-e-Muhafiz and Bukhari intersections. Two traffic signals are broken on Khayaban-e-Shaheen where it cuts Khayaban-e-Bukhari and Khayaban-e-Muhafiz.

Along Khayaban-e-Mujahid, the traffic lights are broken or out of order at five points. On Khayaban-e-Badban there are no traffic lights except where it touches Shujaat.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2011.