October 31, 2007	Wednesday	Shawwal 18, 1428

OKARA, Oct 30: People are facing traffic jams across the city at peak hours, but traffic police and Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) authorities are indifferent to the problem.

Harnianwala Chowk, MCB Chowk, Ghausia Masjid Chowk, Church Road, Deepalpur Road, Venus Chowk, Ravi Road, Sadar Bazaar and Haq Bazaar are some of the several areas where traffic jams can be witnessed throughout the day because of encroachments and absence of traffic policemen.

It is TMA’s responsibility to remove encroachments from the city to ease traffic, but it does not care about it. Similarly, traffic police authorities are supposed to deploy policemen in all congested areas to control traffic, but the situation is altogether different. Most congested areas don’t have traffic policemen. Some areas have traffic policemen, but they are more interested in challaning people to meet their target than controlling traffic.

Tehsil Nazim Rao Jamil Akhtar said he had talked to traders’ representatives about encroachments, adding they would be removed within the next two weeks.

Traffic Police Superintendent Pir Riaz Ahmed said traffic police were working ‘efficiently’, adding police had evolved a plan to streamline traffic throughout the city, especially in congested areas.