NAROWAL: The traffic police are facing difficulties in proving equal to the task of controlling Sialkot’s increasing traffic.

The traffic police have 20-year-old vehicles and there is no car lifter or other equipment.

Sialkot District Police Officer Omar Saeed Malik, accompanied by Deputy Superintendent of Traffic Police Aftab Ahmed Butt, visited Sialkot city to issue directions to control the growing traffic problems. The DPO said development work was under way on nine major highways of the city as a result of which the flow of traffic was being severely affected.

The DPO said the number of vehicles in the city had increased by almost 300 per cent in the last 20 years but the road infrastructure -- underpass and flyovers -- had not been widened. He said the traffic police lacked resources to regulate traffic in Sialkot city. “Traffic police don’t have road-marking and other appurtenance. Sialkot is quite a big city with a lot of traffic but not a single traffic signal. Besides, encroachments on roads and at parking places are a major hindrance in the flow of traffic,” he said.

He said shopping malls, plazas, schools, colleges and marriage halls were located within the city and most of these had no parking lots.

The DPO also pointed out that the traffic police were short of manpower. In order to improve the flow of traffic, he said, it’s very important to raise awareness among people about traffic rules. The DPO directed the DSP traffic to take steps to divert the flow of traffic on alternative routes.

Deputy Commissioner Tahir Farooq said the traffic problems in the city were temporary. He said the entire focus of the district administration was on the ongoing development projects which would be completed in time. With the completion of four mega projects in three months, he said, the traffic problems in Sialkot would be greatly reduced.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2022