Stepping up: Citizens gear up to remove ‘illegal’ vehicles from roads

Campaign by Citizens Trust Against Crime to begin from October 1.

KARACHI:

Having had enough of only listening to stories of crime, a group of concerned citizens have voluntarily come together as ‘Citizens Trust Against Crime’ (CTAC) to launch a large-scale campaign in Karachi to make sure all the vehicles on the road are ‘legal’.

The campaign, in collaboration with the traffic police and Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), will start from October 1. The aim of the campaign is plain and simple - to check every vehicle on the road - private, commercial and government - and make sure they were complying with the law. This will be implemented even-handedly without any discrimination of rank, designation or status.

Nine rules to drive by

The vehicles will be checked for the nine requirements as per the law: registration with the Excise and Taxation Department, having all the documents of registration, driving license and vehicle fitness certificate in the vehicle, the payment of the Motor Vehicle Tax with its sticker visibly applied on the front shield, having a standard, legal and officially issued number plate, no dark or tinted windows, no markings on the plate or the vehicle that represent designations, fancy, personalised or AFR number plates are not permitted, a plate which is partially covered and hinders visibility of any part of the number plate is not permitted and lastly, no display of weapons of any type - licensed or otherwise.

Keeping an eye on the roads

Thousands of illegal, unregistered, smuggled, and vehicles with fake number plates are plying on the streets of the city and there is strong evidence that suggests that such vehicles contribute to the menace of crime and militancy in Pakistan.

“At least 35 per cent cars were either carrying fake number plates or were simply posing as government vehicles by illegally displaying their private registration numbers on green background plates,” revealed a recent survey conducted by CTAC on green number plate (government) cars in Sindh. “Vehicles of this category are the ones most often employed in crime, smuggled, car lifting, carrying explosives, kidnapping and militancy - for they leave behind no clues of their origin or ownership.”

Moving in the right direction

“Of course this campaign will prove helpful in eliminating crime and militancy in the city,” Traffic DIG Khalique Shaikh told The Express Tribune. “We have also taken the excise department on board to issue registration plates as soon as possible to those vehicles that are plying on the road without proper registration number plates.”

The police have given assurance that they will be lenient with those who have applied for registration but yet to receive their number plates.

A member of the CTAC, Naeem Sadiq, told The Express Tribune said that the group plans to assist the police and spread the message of the campaign through advertisements in the media. “We will also coordinate with other departments of the government, including the excise department, to remove hurdles from project,” he explained. “We also do public interest litigations but the main role is to be played by the police or other government departments. Our volunteers will be available to assist them to implement the plan properly and efficiently.”

According to Sadiq, every second vehicle in the city has some problems with its registration number plate. “We have given a concept of what a legal vehicle should be,” he said.

“No doubt hundreds of vehicles bearing fake government registration number plates are being used in criminal or terror activities - even in the transportation of explosives and weapons,” said CPLC Chief Ahmed Chinoy while talking to The Express Tribune. “There should be a police force to even check the government vehicles - politicians and government officials should not be worry as it would take only few minutes of their time.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2013.