KARACHI, Feb 1: In spite of the Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan’s directive for the setting up of new centres for testing vehicles’ fitness, no such facility has been established anywhere in the city as yet, six months after the meeting at which the directive was issued.

A source in the traffic police stated that another meeting of the series was likely to be held on February 10 to review the situation specifically to identify the bus models responsible for pollution.

The source, however, pointed out that it was the city government that was supposed to address most of the problems relating to the traffic issues. In July last year, a high-level meeting was presided over by the governor to review a project under which buses, minibuses and coasters were to undergo a fitness test, proposed to be conducted by private sector. The aim was to discard smoke-emitting vehicles of very old models to ensure a reduction in the city’s pollution to a reasonable level. The meeting also considered introduction of the ‘smart card’ in place of driving licence.

The governor had called for accelerating the implementation of the project and suggested that the fitness test facility might be established at five locations in the city.

It was proposed that initially, commercial vehicles would be subjected to a fitness test and the other vehicles would be covered at a later stage. The governor had asked the authorities concerned to identify suitable locations for setting up such centres and ensure commencement of the process within the next three months.

The plan envisages a pilot project to be launched at a cost of Rs30 million to conduct fitness test of 100 vehicles per day.

It is learnt that no remarkable step has been taken so far in this regard.

There had been three offices – one each at Clifton, Nazimabad and Korangi – authorised to issue driving licence to citizens in Karachi. However, the Korangi office has been closed for the reasons best known to the authorities concerned.

There is only one vehicle fitness test centre, in Saeedabad (Baldia Town), to cater to the needs of the entire city. While the problem of environmental degradation is there, the government seems to have succumbed to the transporters’ pressure as not only had to stop a campaign against smoke-emitting vehicles, but also had to release their vehicles detained by the traffic police under the relevant rules.