KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday directed city authorities to submit till April 9 an action plan regarding the issues of heavy vehicles as well as deteriorating traffic situation in the provincial metropolis.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar also asked all stakeholders to attend a meeting, to be held at the commissioner’s office on March 19, and place their proposals so that the action plan may be finalised with consensus.

The bench also directed the senior member of the Board of Revenue (BoR) to be in attendance in the next hearing to inform about the land for a proposed truck and bus stand after a representative of transporters highlighted the issue.

The bench issues notices to KPT, Railways, cantonment boards for April 9

It also put the Karachi Port Trust, Pakistan Railways, Port Qasim Authority, cantonment boards and other federal departments concerned on notice for April 9.

On Nov 15, the bench had directed the Karachi commissioner and mayor to consult with all the stakeholders and come up with a comprehensive plan within a month to deal with the issues of heavy vehicles and deteriorating traffic situation in the city.

When the matter came up for hearing on Tuesday, Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani submitted a compliance report.

However, the representatives of transporters’ bodies expressed reservations and submitted that a proper hearing was not given to them and they had attended only one meeting.

Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar and the commissioner submitted that one more meeting would be held on March 19 and they can attend it and place their proposals for finalising the action plan.

The commissioner said that there were many federal departments which were to be taken on board including KPT, PQA, Railways, cantonment boards and National Highway Authority (NHA).

The lawyer for the NHA was present during the hearing and he submitted that the action plan would be placed before the competent authority and then a proper statement could be filed on the next date.

However, no one was available from other departments and the court put them on notice directing them to depute representatives or lawyers for the next hearing.

The mayor proposed that after finalising the action plan, a committee may be set up to be headed by the chief secretary and comprising commissioner, mayor and representatives of federal and provincial departments concerned.

A representative of the Supreme Council of All Pakistan Transporters submitted that initially 500 acres were allotted for the truck and bus stand near the Northern Bypass, but the land was curtailed to 150 acres and even that portion of the land had not been handed over to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation.

When the additional advocate general was asked to respond, he sought time to call the senior member of BoR on the next date.

The bench asked the commissioner and mayor to submit the minutes of the March 19 meeting and the action plan by April 9.

Faisal Bangali and others had moved the SHC over the worsening situation of traffic in Karachi and seeking rerouting of heavy vehicles through non-residential areas as well as improvement in public transport.

They asked the court to issue directives for the authorities to improve public transport and introduce other alternative means to help commuters and reduce the burden on the existing transport.

The court was further asked to order the authorities to strictly conduct fitness tests of vehicles running on city roads.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2019