RAWALPINDI: As an emergency response to traffic congestion on the city’s roads, the City Traffic Police on Monday put a ban on parking on both sides of Benazir Bhutto Road between Committee Chowk and Waris Khan.

City Policy Officer (CPO) Shoaib Khuram Janzeb told Dawn that parking on the road has been banned from 7am to 10 am and from 3pm to 7pm and that ‘parking prohibited’ signs have also been put up.“Whoever is found violating the bans on parking and encroachment will not be spared and 21 cases in this regard have already been registered,” the CPO said adding that taxis and school vans are not exempt from the new parking rules.

To implement the ban, the CPO said that 46 traffic wardens, four junior wardens, two inspectors, two deputy superintendents and two fork lifters have been deployed between Committee Chowk and Waris Khan.

The traffic police are taking measures on ensuring the smooth flow of traffic between Mareer Chowk and Benazir Bhutto road, Mr Janzeb said.

The traffic police have faced a lot of criticism for traffic congestion due to the re-carpeting of Airport Road, though they (police) have advised motorists to take alternative routes.

Two VIP movements on Monday added to the woes of commuters who remained stuck in traffic jams for a long time. The first was of Punjab Chief Minister’s commute, though he used a helicopter to move from the airport to Islamabad, however, police was deployed along the route till his helicopter had landed. The other VIP movement was of a foreign delegation.

The traffic police have set up a toll free number on which people can call around the clock to get information on which route to take in order to avoid traffic congestion.

“It will help people save time and fuel”, the police officer said.

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2016