RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) does not have traffic engineering plans for the city even though it has a separate branch for town planning.

“It is the RDA’s duty to mark lanes on the main roads and make plans for separating traffic in commercial and residential areas, however, no such plans have been made,” a senior RDA official told Dawn.

He said the civic body is being run by the divisional commissioner and there is no permanent director general to monitor the progress of every branch.

He said the last plan the town planning branch made for traffic was in 2013 when the RDA made fish belly U-turns on Murree Road including at Marrir Chowk and counted the cars which used this point every day.

Last time RDA’s town planning branch made traffic plans was in 2013, RDA official says

According to the survey, more than 122,251 vehicles use this point in an hour every day.

“After obtaining this data, the RDA established fish belly U-turns including at Marrir Chowk but after the completion of the metro bus station, the u-turn was closed and a traffic signal was installed instead which created a traffic mess,” the RDA official said.

He added that the branch had also made plans in 2007 to install traffic cameras on Murree Road to control traffic but the project is yet to be completed.

Also, he said, buildings were being constructed without proper planning in areas under the administrative control of the RDA.

“You can see highrises and smaller buildings on the main roads. Residential and commercial areas are not separate in the city and shopping malls are being constructed in residential areas without the approval of the civic body,” he said.

The RDA had in 2008 tried to make the roads in main bazaars one-way, including Raja Bazaar and Iqbal Road and wanted to make the roads around Moti Bazaar pedestrian streets which is also yet to be done.

When contacted, RDA spokesperson Hafiz Irfan said the town planning branch of the civic agency was making new plans for the improvement of the city and the surrounding areas under its administrative control.

He said two new projects had been initiated including the construction of a commercial plaza and the commercialisation of roads in various areas of the city.

He said work on the RDA plaza is also underway.

He said the civic society is monitoring housing societies around the city areas and implementing building by-laws.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2018