KARACHI, Jan 20: City Nazim Mustafa Kamal has said that traffic-related problems in the metropolis could only be solved if the city government gets control of traffic police. Eighty per cent traffic related problems would decrease if traffic police came under the city government, which would provide the traffic police with new equipment, vehicles, workforce and other facilities, the nazim said while talking to a delegation of National Road Safety Secretariat, led by Executive Director Aziz Ahmed, on Saturday.

The federal government had established the National Road Safety Secretariat under the Ministry of Communication to control the increasing number of road accidents and enhance the importance of Road Safety Programme.

Mustafa Kamal informed the delegation that traffic engineering department was already under the city government and there was a dire need to bring the traffic police under the control of city government for effective implementation.

He cited the presence of pushcarts and other vendors on roads, boarding of passengers on buses in the middle of roads and violation of traffic rules and others as big problems, which caused traffic congestion.

“It is the responsibility of traffic police to tackle these issues and these can only be solved when traffic engineering department and traffic police work under one authority,” he added.

He said the city government was constructing bridges, underpasses, widening roads and improving roundabouts to reduce traffic problems and the newly-constructed signal-free corridor would also help maintain smooth flow of traffic.

The government would also construct seven overhead pedestrian bridges on the single-free corridor, he said adding that improvement in the traffic police is the need of the hour.

The Executive Director of Road Safety Secretariat endorsed the nazim’s suggestions. He also agreed that traffic management and engineering department should work under the same authority. He said the secretariat in collaboration with district governments would hold workshops and seminars on the eve of Universal Road Safety Programme Day to create awareness among the masses.—Staff Reporter