RAWALPINDI: The divisional commissioner on Friday directed the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC), local police and the traffic police to speed up work on improving traffic gridlocks in the city areas and remove encroachments from the city’s bazaars.

Commissioner Nadeem Afzal Chaudhry was reviewing the anti-encroachment drive being conducted in the city in a high level meeting in his office which was attended by Mayor Sardar Naseem, Deputy

Commissioner Talat Mehmood Gondal, City Police Officer Israr Abbasi, City Traffic Officer (CTO) Yousaf Shahid, RMC Chief Municipal Officer Khalid Javed Goraya and other senior officials of the district administration.

The commissioner observed that the anti-encroachment drive had been good the past month but was gradually slowing down.

The commissioner takes notice of the dumping of construction material and solid waste in Leh Nullah

He also took notice of the dumping of construction material and solid waste in Leh Nullah which will create problems for the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) which has to remove obstacles from the drain before the monsoon.

“The entry of loaded trucks which dump garbage and construction waste in Leh Nullah should be banned on roads adjacent to the drain. The Rawalpindi Municipal Waste Company, RMC and Wasa should register police cases against the truck owners,” he said.

The meeting was informed that the entry of heavy vehicles was banned and that Wasa was constructing barricades to prevent trucks from entering roads. Work on these barricades had been completed at Gowalmandi and Dhoke Ratta.

The commissioner asked RMC to remove all kinds of encroachments without any discrimination.

“Roads and footpaths should be available to motorists and pedestrians,” he said.

He warned the RMC and local police that he will not tolerate any negligence in this regard and that departmental action will be taken against those who do not complete the work.

The parking of motorcycles and cars were also discussed and it was decided to open the basement of the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Parking Plaza in the Raja Bazaar for motorcycles only.

CTO Yousaf Shahid said building new parking plazas in different areas of the city, bringing back more than 100 traffic wardens from Lahore as well as the construction of flyovers and underpasses will help overcome traffic issues in the city areas.

“However, the flyovers and underpasses will not give the desired results without traffic engineering,” he said.

Mayor Naseem said the RMC will open the basement of its old offices for the parking of vehicles.

He said work on the construction of a parking plaza at a vacant plot of RMC in Raja Bazaar will be started soon and that the earlier building has been demolished.

“We will install CCTV cameras at Raja Bazaar and adjoining roads which will help the traffic police to monitor the traffic situation. We will establish a control room in the RMC office,” he said.

Rawal Road Park to be named after Shahbaz

In a separate meeting, the commissioner and former MNA Hanif Abbasi said initiating the Shahbaz Sharif Park on Rawal Road, worth Rs87.931 million is a commendable step and will provide residents with a standard entertainment facility.

The park will include a gym, cricket ground, football ground, badminton, playground for children, parking area, public toilets, food outlets, horticulture and walking tracks.

They said a revised estimate has been submitted with an enhanced scope of work including increased size and mosaic floors for pitches, changes in the gym, changes for electricity supply and shifting for sprinkler system, flood lights, garden lights and horticulture work.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2018