RAWALPINDI: Majority of signals have been dysfunctional in the garrison city disrupting the flow of traffic and risking the lives of commuters.A visit to various chowks and main roads showed that a majority of traffic lights are either fully non-operational or only one light is functioning which often confuses motorists.

There is also confusion as who is responsible for looking after or maintaining the traffic lights and road engineering as the traffic police officials say they are only to regulate traffic, not to maintain traffic lights or concerned with road engineering.

Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Rai Mazhar Iqbal acknowledged that majority of traffic lights were lying dysfunctional. Though some of them fall under the control of the traffic police, his department had nothing to do with the maintenance of the lights.

“Traffic signals on Peshawar Road and around Cantt area are under the station headquarters,” the CTO said, adding that there were only a few traffic lights in the city which were under the ambit of the Rawalpindi Development Authority.

He said whenever the traffic volume is increased, they switch off the lights and regulated it manually. He said the repair cost of the dysfunctional traffic lights had been estimated at Rs2.5 million as the system needed to be replaced with a new one.

Former chief traffic officer had written letters to the then commissioner Rawalpindi to take notice of the situation to direct the authorities concerned to repair the traffic lights but the situation remained unchanged.

In Saddar, the traffic signals at major intersections have been lying dysfunctional for the last several days.

Traffic signals at the busy UNO turn at Jhelum Road has also been lying out of order for several days and wardens are also rarely seen there.

The situation in the limit of the municipal corporation is too bad as signals at Haideri Chowk, Kali Tanki Chowk and Asghar Mall Chowk are dysfunctional.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2021