Independent police force proposed for Ring Road

Force to be modelled on the National Highway and Motorway Police.

LAHORE:

The Lahore Ring Road Authority (LRRA) has proposed a new police force similar to the National Highway and Motorway Police (NHMP) to regulate traffic on the Ring Road.

Ring Road Authority SP Salman Ali Khan told The Express Tribune that they had proposed a force of between 350 and 450 officials, initially composed of wardens drawn from the traffic police and trained by the NHMP. Later, assistant sub inspectors would be recruited to the force under the Police Order of 2002.

“The LRR police force would address traffic issues on the Ring Road, like the NHMP does on the Motorway,” he said, adding that the proposal had been sent to the Punjab government for approval.

Currently, some 250 wardens on deputation from traffic police are regulating traffic on the 40-kilometre Ring Road Northern Loop from Babu Sabu to Package 17 near Defence Housing Authority. The LRRA is in administrative control of around 28km, as some 12km of road ahead of Ghaziabad is still under the control of the National Logistic Corporation (NLC). This 12-km stretch is still without streetlights.

The NLC is also to build a 2.75-km road, 24-feet wide on each side, along the Khaira Distributory to connect the Northern Loop to Ferozepur Road.

LRRA Enforcement Director Col (r) Asim said that some roadside services needed to be relocated, following which the NLC would start work on the road and finish it in about four months.

He said that the NLC would also install lights on the Ring Road in the section onwards from Ghaziabad.

SP Khan said that the LRRA had sent two proposals regarding its police force. One proposal was that a 3-4km stretch of road from Babu Sabu to Niazi Chowk not be included in the Ring Road. He said that many pedestrians and vehicles sought to cross the road and making it signal-free would result in many accidents. He said that traffic lights should be installed on this stretch. Should this stretch not be included in the Ring Road, the LRRA would require a police force of some 350 personnel, he said. If the stretch were included, the LRRA force would require 450 personnel, he said.

The SP said that under the proposal, the Ring Road sectors would be reclassified so they reflected not the length of the road, but the traffic load. The force would require three cars and six 250cc motorbikes to patrol each sector. The force would also have a distinct uniform.

He said that the force would initially consist of wardens taken from the Punjab Traffic Police or Lahore Traffic Police who would then undergo training courses with the NHMP. Later, the force would recruit ASIs who passed the Provincial Civil Service exams.

He said that the LRRA would also prepare its own training courses.

He said that they had sought to recruit 75 ASIs every six months. He said that these officers would not be called wardens, but would start as junior patrol officers (ASI level) and then move up the ranks as patrol officers (SI), senior patrol officers (inspector) and chief patrol officers (DSP).

SP Khan said that the officials in the LRRA police would get good pay and working conditions. They would be required not just to enforce traffic laws, but also to educate road users.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22^nd, 2012.