KARACHI, Aug 30: Describing the city traffic chief’s report as ‘a mere eyewash’, a Sindh High Court division bench directed the provincial transport secretary, the deputy inspector-general of traffic police, a representative of the city district government and the director-general of the environmental protection agency to appear on Sept 20 and explain why court orders for a cleaner environment could not be implemented.
DIG (Traffic) Wajid Ali Khan had filed a report in response to a direction by a division bench comprising Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Mohammad Athar Saeed. The report was submitted on Aug 23 simultaneously with an identical report filed before the Supreme Court in its suo motu proceedings on traffic jams.
The SHC bench is seized of a petition moved by Advocate Islam Hussain against faulty vehicles, particularly rickshaws, causing air and noise pollution on Aug 23.
Broader issues involving the quality of life in the city were agitated in the course of proceedings before various division benches. One of the benches ordered shifting of inter-city bus stands at Saddar, Lyari and University Road while another heard the viewpoint of rickshaw owners, who opposed curbs on single-stroke vehicles.
The bench currently seized of the petition remarked that it wanted to ascertain the reasons behind the non-implementation of the earlier court directions before ordering further measures to clean up the mess.
’DIG report mere eyewash’
It said the Traffic DIG’s report did not properly deal with the various aspects of the problem. The prevailing air and noise pollution and the traffic mess were there for everybody to see and the report was a mere eye-wash in the backdrop of the gravity and magnitude of the situation. It offered little by way of solution to the increasing environmental degradation. The steps claimed to have been taken by the traffic police evidently had no impact on the situation, the court remarked.
Petitioner-lawyer Islam Hussain submitted that poisonous smoke emissions from the defective public transport were causing cancer and heart, throat and lung ailments.
He said he was disappointed to note that despite several court orders passed from time to time, no substantial progress on improvement in the situation on the ground was visible. He said the provincial and city governments had failed to show any concrete progress on the compliance of court orders.
Because of the more serious problems of pollution and traffic jams, he said, the question of absence of meters and overcharging by taxis and rickshaws had receded into background. More and more space meant for traffic was being occupied by encroachers.
Wide-bodied buses, inter-city and inter-provincial vehicles were still operating from illegal bus stands at Saddar and other congested areas. The motorists, commuters, pedestrians and the residents of the areas had to put up with the traffic hazards.
He sought fresh directions for the removal of encroachments, unauthorised bus, taxi and rickshaw stands and stops from Saddar, Nishtar and Business Recorder roads, Guru Mandir and Lyari.