Twin menace: Chaotic roads and thousands of sputtering rickshaws on top, Hell!

In the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), commuters can count on being stuck for hours in traffic jams. Dug-up roads, some too narrow even for one-way traffic, ill-planned U-turns and traffic density are all contributing to commuters’ woes.

Interestingly, traffic wardens posted on Grand Trunk (GT) Road take little notice of public transport drivers’ violation of rules. “We do take action and fine public transport drivers over not maintaining their vehicles when we are ordered by senior officials,” said Mir Zaman, a traffic police inspector. It is not possible for traffic police to check vehicles because they have to maintain the traffic flow, he added. Because of lack of planning and the inability of traffic wardens to regulate the traffic flow, long queues of vehicles are a common sight in the city. More than 40,000 rickshaws ply on the roads every day, zigzagging through traffic.

Reckless driving not only creates traffic jams, it endangers lives. According to Rescue 1122, some 1,721 traffic accidents were reported in which 81 people died and 2,148 were injured from August 2010 to November 2012.



At four points alongside GT Road, snail-paced construction work has resulted in the road being dug up, causing further disruptions to the traffic. K-P Senior Minister Bashir Bilour formed an investigative committee headed by local government additional secretary to find out reasons for the delay in the completion of two underpasses on University Road, but it has yet to submit a report.

Moreover, a number of asphalting and bridging project started around Arbab Sikandar Khan Khalil flyover in August are still ongoing. The Mufti Mehmood flyover has been delayed for a year, due to the slow pace of construction work, causing commuters problems on several routes including Bacha Khan Chowk, Sher Shah Suri Bridge and Khyber Road.

The failure of the municipal authority to check increasing encroachments alongside roads, especially on the narrow and often clogged Ashraf Road, Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Hashtnagri Chowk, Firdous Chowk and even on the Khyber Bazaar road results in traffic jams.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2012.