KARACHI, Sept 19: Some 400 newly-inducted personnel of the community police department, 275 employees of the city government and 700 volunteers are helping the traffic police during Ramazan to avoid traffic jams in the metropolis.

Official sources told Dawn that several towns had hired services of 700 volunteers for one month and the city government detailed its 275 staff of civil defence, charged parking and local taxes department on busy thoroughfares to assist traffic police.

The decision to hire volunteers was taken after the traffic police requested the city government to depute its staff and volunteers to assist traffic police personnel in regulating traffic, they said, adding that the town administration would give a fixed honorarium to the volunteers for their services.

Wearing yellowish jackets and armed with sticks, the volunteers and city government employees were seen regulating traffic on different roads. They have been directed not to allow parking on the main roads. Even buses are not allowed to stop anywhere for more than one minute. Special magistrates of the city government can impound a vehicle causing hindrance in the smooth flow of traffic.

Traffic police officials acknowledged that the posting of volunteers had helped them a lot in maintaining a smooth traffic flow on busy thoroughfares.

City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal told Dawn that people had witnessed a visible change in the traffic regulating system as the city government demonstrated by effectively maintaining a smooth flow during rush hours that it could resolve the traffic jams issue. He said, “We have the ability and we are showing it. We can change policing if the authorities place traffic police under the city government’s control. We always say that traffic police and traffic regulation should be the job of the local administration,” he remarked.

Despite the fact that traffic police did not fall in its domain, Mr Kamal said, the city government took special measures for helping the traffic police by hiring volunteers and deputing city government employees on roads.

Sources said the city government had recently recruited 400 persons in its community police department and deployed them on the second day of Ramazan for one month.

According to the city government spokesman, a prior approval was given by the City Council for the recruitment in the community police department in accordance with the set procedure. Of 1,500 applicants volunteering for the task, 400 candidates having domicile of Karachi were selected after the recently conducted tests and interviews.

After Ramazan, the spokesman said, the community force would start implementing municipal rules and regulation in all the towns.