PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is likely to launch the first phase of traffic warden system in the provincial metropolis in the first week of March next.

Sharing details of a meeting held here on Thursday with IGP Nasir Khan Durrani in the chair, a police spokesperson said that to ensure transparent and corruption-free enforcement of traffic laws, automated challans through hand held units would be introduced to end the manual system of challan.

The DIG and SSP of traffic briefed the IGP on the salient features and implementation status of the traffic warden system for Peshawar.

The spokesperson said that during the meeting the IGP told the participants that the provincial government should be requested to establish a proper Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA) for the city and set up traffic signals in the city on priority basis.

The new system is predicated on the principle of public facilitation and transparent enforcement. The public service facilitation and awareness features include a mobile traffic workshop unit and accident recovery unit for rescuing and providing relief to the owners of broken vehicles.

Similarly, there will be a traffic education and awareness unit that will be visiting educational institutions, parks, commercial areas and other public places for educating people about traffic rules. The same unit will also be featuring a mobile driving licence issuing unit that will issue on-spot learner permits to the eligible citizens.

Likewise, the traffic warden service will also be featuring a dedicated helpline 1915 and FM radio channel. The 1915 helpline and FM radio channel will be updating and guiding the citizens about the traffic congestions and alternate routes on real time basis.

Likewise, the new traffic system will also have an internal vigilance unit to keep a strong internal check on the working of traffic wardens. The service will also be introducing modern concept of disciplining the drivers through de-merit point system.

The provincial government tasked police a few months ago to revamp the existing traffic management system in the provincial metropolis and launch traffic warden system on the pattern of motorway police.

Police have been working on designing an effective traffic management system for the city. A fast growing metropolitan city having a population of around 7.1 million, amongst many of its other challenges, is also faced with an acute problem of traffic congestion. Owing to its distinct geo-strategic location and being the provincial capital, Peshawar unlike other cities faces the burden of both domestic and international traffic meant for Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2015

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