PESHAWAR, Aug 28: Marking a decade of soft policing, elimination of the ‘VIP culture’, responsible driving and law enforcement on M-2 and M-3, the National Highways and Motorway Police (NH&MP) will soon take over the supervision of the 140-km road between Peshawar and Karak and the 26-km road between Nowshera and Peshawar, according to its inspector-general M. Riffat Pasha.

Speaking at an awards distribution ceremony here on Tuesday, Mr Pasha said the force which had started its work with only 346 staff on about 367km of roads had helped reduce crime on highways by up to 85 per cent. Road accidents had declined by up to 70 per cent, he said.

He said the NH&MP had brought about a change in policing by introducing courtesy in law enforcement.

The special award ceremony turned out to be more of an awareness-raising activity about risks of speeding, racing and importance of road-safety measures as representatives from the Motorway Police, police force and civil society were shown images and clips on road safety measures and risks of racing.

Dr Khaliq-uz-Zaman, a neurosurgeon from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, who had conducted a study on fatalities from road accidents, said that figures showed that by 2020 road fatalities could become the third leading reason of death in people below the age of 40.

In five years, deaths of 386 people brought to Pims were caused by road accidents. On the Independence Day when youngsters indulge in speeding and racing, Pims received 14 people with head and spinal injuries who later died, he said.

Dr Zaman said the rate of fatalities among women was much lower because they were careful drivers. Eighty-seven per cent of people who died in accidents were men and 13 were women, he said.

Rukhshinda Naz, resident director of the Aurat Foundation, said better transportation infrastructure was needed along with a good policing body on roads.

She called for extending the Motorway Police to city roads, too. “Women can drive alone anytime on motorway because the Motorway Police is there to take care of them,” she said, appreciating the NH&MP staff.

From chairman of the provincial Public Service Commission Mr Abdullah also hailed the performance of the NH&MP.

Later, patrolling officers were awarded for their service. They included Jan Bahadur, Manzoor Ahmed, Ijaz Haider Tori, Aasma Naqvi, Qaiser Khan, Irfanulhaq, Shafqat Rasool, Sher Ahmed, Mohammad Asad, Mohammad Tariq, Mohammad Younas, Yasir Mehmood, Ghulam Farid, Ahmed Bajwa, Ikhlaq Ahmed, Shabraiz Iqbal, Jawad Haider, Nadeem Akhtar, Inayat Hussain and Naeem Akhtar.