MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) inspector general of police (IGP) Dr Amir Ahmed Shaikh has vowed to focus on road safety because more deaths were occurring in the territory in road accidents than in crime related activities.”

He said he would also continue the initiatives launched by his predecessor Dr Sohail Habib Tajik to improve the performance and image of the AJK police.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Shaikh said [AJK] Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas had also directed him to come up with recommendations for effective management of traffic as well as prevention of accidents due to faulty vehicles, reckless driving and absence of protection walls along the arteries.

“…road safety is the major concern of the prime minister. He wants the police and other relevant departments to take all methods and measures to reduce the likelihood of accidents which cause more deaths and injuries than the hardcore criminal activities,” he said.

The IGP said he had already held meetings with the officers of his department on traffic management in state capital Muzaffarabad and other urban areas through short-term and long-term strategies.

Mr Shaikh, who had also served as Karachi’s traffic police chief, vowed that he would try his best to employ his experience and expertise from the provincial metropolis to bring a winsome change in AJK.

He noted that like many parts in the rest of the country, commercial plazas built in the urban areas of AJK were also devoid of parking facilities for their customers.

“Ironically, the basements of such buildings are converted into warehouses or shops despite having been shown in maps as parking lots,” he said, adding, the media should also help the government revive parking spaces to ease congestion in the areas concerned.

Published in Dawn,June 10th, 2022