RAWALPINDI, Dec 7: Accidents in Rawalpindi have increased alarmingly in recent months with road infrastructure coming under tremendous pressure due to the growing vehicular traffic.

There had been 3,242 accidents on the roads of Rawalpindi between August 2007 and November 2008, the data compiled by the Emergency Service, Rescue-1122, showed.

The number of accidents increased from 324 in October to 346 last month, the data says.

These are only figures of accidents reported to or handled by Rescue-1122. Many cases of daily road accidents are either not reported to Rescue-1122 or to hospitals hence no authority records the number of accidents in the city.

Poor maintenance of roads, insufficient space for driving and simultaneous movement of private, public and light and heavy commercial vehicles are major causes of accidents.

In addition to this, irresponsible driving, lack of knowledge of traffic laws, inadequate police enforcement, driving skills and knowledge and the absence of road signs are other causes of road accidents. However, the main cause of road accidents is the under-pressure road network.

There is not a single road in the city where there is no traffic congestion. Mall Road and Peshawar Road have become another Murree Road with congestion of traffic day and night.

Peshawar Road has become the most dangerous road of Rawalpindi where road accidents have become order of the day. Commercial and heavy vehicles are involved in a high percentage of road accidents on Peshawar Road.

The current level of traffic is beyond the reach of traffic wardens who are often seen helpless in almost all inter-sections.

Traffic jams on Chandni Chowk, Committee Chowk, Liaquat Bagh, Marrir Hasan Chowk and the Defence Ministry Chowk have become routine and authorities have no solution to scale down the congestion. Traffic planning is lacking on busiest roads.

Likewise, Mall Road, Haider Road, Station Road, Bank Road, Adamjee Road, Hospital Road, Kashmir Road in the Cantonment and Raja Bazaar, Kashmiri Bazaar, Jinnah Road, Liaquat Road, College Road, China Market Road, Bohar Bazaar, Iqbal Road, Ganjmandi Road, Urdu Bazaar, Purana Qila, Jamia Masjid Road, Bani, Saidpur Road, Teli Mohallah, Kohati Bazaar, Asghar Mall Road, blocks of Satellite Town and many other roads in the city areas remain congested all the time.

Work on Airport Road fly-over, which was scheduled to be completed by September 30, is still progressing at snail’s pace. The delay was causing much hindrance to the traffic.

Quality of the recently-constructed Jhelum Road has started to be exposed. There is no authority which can carry out accountability of the construction agency.

As the completion of the road is not yet over, one government agency has already started digging two portions of the roads for reasons known to the National Highway Authority (NHA). This work showed lack of coordination between departments, wastage of public money and creation of bottlenecks in the flow of traffic.

Regrettably, the entire road is without any drainage line and the worst example is the enclave in the vicinity of Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, gateway of Defence Housing Authority and the Fauji Foundation Hospital where the flow of sanitation water has not only damaged the road but is also posing a threat to public life and degrading environment. Heavy rain floods the entire Jhelum Road.

The National Highway Authority (NHA), which has the responsibility of maintaining Jhelum Road up to Peshawar Road, has poor record of maintenance. It was carrying out marking of yellow lanes on Peshawar Road and Jhelum Road, but ignores environmental aspects of the road.

Massive encroachments on the roads of both cantonment and city areas have become a major threat to the flow of traffic.