Metro bus: Alternative arrangements not enough says ICCI

Islamabad chamber demands solution to traffic, pollution issues at 9th Avenue.

The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has demanded better alternative routes for traffic disturbed by construction work of the metro bus project in Islamabad.

While welcoming the mass transit project and terming it a need of the hour, acting ICCI President Khalid Chaudhry said residents are faced with difficulties due to insufficient alternative routes for traffic.

He appealed to the Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro bus project chairman Hanif Abbasi, Rawalpindi commissioner and the Capital Development Authority to take steps to ensure a smooth flow of traffic, particularly around 9th Avenue.

He said the Rawalpindi traffic police are managing the Benazir Bhutto Road traffic better than their counterparts in 9th Avenue, Islamabad.

Chaudhry said there are no sign boards on alternative routes in Islamabad due to which road users are facing problems.

The acting ICCI president said before the start of the construction work, it was decided that arrangements will be made to deal with air pollution the work was going to cause.

“The authorities had promised to provide dust mask to the residents of Sector G-9 but nothing has been done so far. Many accidents have happened because of the lack of sufficient alternative routes,” he said.

He called upon all the authorities to look into these problems and take remedial measures on an urgent basis. Otherwise, he said, the traders will take to the streets.

He said traffic engineers should be appointed in the traffic police immediately and the civic agency should improve traffic management in the capital. 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22^nd, 2014.