RAWALPINDI: City Traffic Officer (CTO) Rawalpindi Shoaib Khurram Janbaz has written separate letters to the senior superintendent of police (traffic) Islamabad and his counterpart at the National Highway and Motorway Police (NHMP), asking them to deploy traffic wardens between Soan and Rawat roads to oversee traffic.

Chaotic traffic was witnessed on Thursday on Jhelum Road due to lack of traffic police officials at Soan, which falls within the limits of Islamabad traffic police and the NHMP.

The CTO office spokesperson said police chiefs from Islamabad and the NHMP had been informed that due to the absence of wardens in Soan area, traffic jams were a regular occurrence from the high court to Kutchery Chowk.

Since Soan area falls within the limits of Islamabad, Rawalpindi traffic police are unable to intervene.

Wardens are regularly deployed up to Soan Bridge, but the area past the bridge falls within Islamabad territory, making it the responsibility of the capital traffic police, the spokesperson said.

City traffic police have already cancelled holidays of traffic staff due to the Eid shopping rush. A large number of wardens have been deployed in the city as well as the cantonment areas to manage traffic.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2014