RAWALPINDI: About 16 traffic lights have been broken, out of order, flashing or blacked-out in the city over the last three months, disrupting the smooth flow of traffic and increasing the risk of accidents.

The city traffic police have sent requests to the commissioner/authorities concerned for urgent repair of traffic signals since September 2025 with the latest one dispatched about two weeks ago. However, the situation has not improved as the concerned officials have not taken the matter seriously. So far, none of the dysfunctional traffic signals has been repaired.

The out of order traffic signals are at Committee Chowk Murree Road, Hameed Khan Chowk Rawal Road, FWO Chowk, Saddique Chowk Saidpur Road, College Chowk Saidpur Road, Haideri Chowk Saidpur Road, Asghar Mall Chowk Saidpur Road, Kali Tanki Chowk Saidpur Road, Shell Pump Chowk Commercial Market, Chandni Chowk Murree Road, Rawal Road turn Murree Road, 6th Road Chowk Murree Road, Punjab House, Rashid Minhas Road, Marrir Chowk and Bilal Shaheed Chowk, Scheme III.

The traffic police has brought the issue into the notice of the commissioner Rawalpindi several times during last three months and also intimated the city police officer (CPO), director Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), the chief executive officers Chaklala Cantonment Board and the Municipal Corporation.

Without properly functioning traffic signals, vehicles from all directions try to move at once, leading to frequent traffic jams during peak hours, said the traffic police while expressing concern as thousands of vehicles have been diverted to alternative routes due to the ongoing work on the remodeling of Kutchery Chowk.

The faulty traffic signals have resulted in several accidents involving both vehicles and pedestrians and posing a serious threat to public safety and smooth flow of traffic.

The malfunctioning of traffic signals at intersections has also caused disruption and delays of public transport buses and other vehicles, causing inconvenience of thousands of commuters.

In the absence of traffic signal enforcement, many drivers disregard basic traffic rules worsening the situation.

In addition to controlling traffic flow, the signals also serve as an important indicator for emergency vehicles allowing them to pass through busy intersections without any disruption, a former chief traffic officer said.

He added that by obeying the traffic signals road users can navigate intersections safely ensuring the safety of everyone on the road. “Intersections with no traffic signals are highly hazardous and dangerous, especially for pedestrians.”

A commuter, Jawad Ahmad, who uses Rashid Minhas Road from Chaklala Scheme III, said: “I have not seen traffic signals functioning at Marrir Chowk for a long time. It looks as though nobody is concerned about it; how risky it is to cross this intersection,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2026