FAISALABAD: Dysfunctional traffic lights at crossings at different places are resulting in jams and accidents in various city areas, but neither the district administration nor police authorities are taking any measures for improving the situation for motorists as well as wardens.

While signals at Boley De Jhugi have reportedly been stolen, all the signals are off at busy Kotwali Chowk which connects different roads, including Jhang Road, Eid Gah Road, Chiniot Bazaar and Jail Road.

Traffic officials, seeking anonymity, admitted that a majority of the signals were dysfunctional, some of these for more than two years. They said the wardens were also facing problems in regulating the traffic and a number of times motorists had hit the wardens standing in the middle of the road to perform their duty.

They deplored that the stands/platforms used to be provided to wardens to stand on while controlling traffic in the past were nowhere to be seen. They said now the wardens had to stand on the ground to regulate the traffic and some of them got hit by the motorists in a hurry as they couldn’t see them.

A warden said it had become very difficult to regulate traffic without the signals as many motorists ignore the vehicles coming from other directions at these crossings. He said it was the responsibility of the district administration and the municipal corporation as well to make these signals functional, keeping in view the traffic rush on city roads.

He said the wardens had to perform their duty under the scorching sun without any sort of shadow or umbrella.

The iron cabins placed at different places for the wardens were more a bane than a boon as they got so hot that in the summers many wardens prefer staying out of them, he regretted.

“These cabins are so badly designed these can neither save us from rain nor sun” he said.

The increasing traffic influx in Faisalabad required better traffic regulation and planning for which installation of new traffic signals was necessary, Akram Inam, a teacher of a private college, said. He added that the dysfunctional signals were also resulting in fatal traffic accidents.

Chief Traffic Officer Asif Zafar said the issue of dysfunctional signals had been taken up with the commissioner and the corporation as well and “we had been asked that the issue would be resolved soon as new contracts for the purpose would be awarded in August”.

He said the wardens had been trying their best to regulate the traffic at all such sports where signals were not functioning.

He said that in the ongoing muggy weather conditions the wardens are being provided Sakanjbeen (traditional lemonade) to keep themselves hydrated, while cabins have also been provided to them to save them from rain and sun.

“We are also focusing on marking the roads for motorists which would ultimately ease wardens in regulating the traffic,” he said.

He said making signals functional would help us a lot in keeping the traffic smooth even in rush hours.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2019