RAWALPINDI: In an effort to facilitate commuters and regulate traffic, City Traffic Police (CTP) launched a large-scale operation against market encroachments.

But people on the other hand claimed that the exercise was a futile one because the encroachers would return in a day or two.

The crackdown against the encroachers was launched in Rawalpindi following the vision of the Punjab chief minister (CM) to improve traffic flow in markets where encroachments had been a long-standing issue for road users and the public during Ramadan.

A large-scale operation against encroachments was conducted across the district, including in the areas of Raja Bazaar, Bara Market, Iqbal Road, Trunk Bazaar, Commercial Market, Sadiqabad, Transformer Chowk, and Civil Lines. During the campaign, the stalls, clothes, and vendors were removed from the roads and cleared for traffic.

On the other hand, Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Taimoor Khan held a meeting with the in-charges of circles to review the progress on the anti-encroachment campaign.

Mr Khan stated that the traffic police have been taking several measures in view of the travel facilities for the public in Rawalpindi during Ramadan, which included campaigns against encroachments, wrong parking, one-way violations, and violations of traffic laws. Besides, they have also decided to strictly enforce other traffic laws to improve traffic flow during Ramadan.

The CTO noted that Rawalpindi Traffic Police is trying to provide the best traffic facilities to the citizens; however, people view the move as futile as the encroachers would simply return in a day or two.

Despite several attempts by all of the provincial governments to check the encroachments, the issue persisted as it had decades earlier.

A traffic police official said that the lack of parking places is one of the major issues in the city, as plans to construct parking plazas have been proposed many times but have been postponed since local authorities have not shown interest in the idea or lack realisation of the problem.

A resident of the city stated that many civic problems could be solved, provided the civic authorities had been doing their job.

“Come what may, the civic bodies would not respond to the Punjab CM’s vision as she plans to give relief to the general public and solve traffic problems,” he added.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2024