KARACHI, Oct 27: The performance of Karachi’s traffic police came under fire at a seminar held here on Saturday where a transporters’ representative conceded giving millions of rupees in bribes to the police on a monthly basis so that they could turn a blind eye towards violations.

The disclosure was made by the President of the Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI), Irshad Hussain Bukhari, in the presence of DIG Traffic Wajid Ali Durrani and other senior government officials at the seminar titled ‘Managing cities: The transport dilemma’ organised by Shehri, a non-governmental organisation.

Mr Bukhari went on to say that monthly bribes were also being paid to senior police officers. He agreed when a participant said that transporters were violating the law but added that “we violate the law as others also do. Everyone in this country is violating the law.”

DIG Durrani admitted to the existence of bribery within the system and promised to eliminate it but clarified that “this would be abolished gradually as nothing can be changed overnight.”

He asked Mr Bukhari why the transporters were bribing the police, to which the KTI chief innocently replied that they had no other option as the police would impound their vehicles. He did not promise to help the DIG traffic when he asked him to come up with cases so that he could take action against the responsible persons.

The participants stressed the need for revamping the traffic police along modern lines and their proper training as part of a sustainable solution.

Earlier, the KTI president reacted strongly when it was suggested that hefty fines be imposed on smoke-emitting public vehicles. He said that police mobiles and vehicles of the city government were also emitting smoke and action should also be taken against them instead of targeting the transporters alone.

He threatened to go on strike if the traffic police tried to fine violators as is done in Lahore.

He lashed out at traffic volunteers, who were posted on various thoroughfares during Ramazan by the towns and city government, and termed them workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

“We do not accept MQM workers as traffic volunteers. If they have sticks in their hands then we will arm our drivers with sticks,” he threatened.

‘Motorcyclists to blame’

DIG Durrani, however, held motorcyclists responsible for the traffic mess in the city instead of public transporters. He said that about 1,000 motorcyclists were being fined on a daily basis.

“Earlier, due to political reasons we were directed not to fine motorcyclists. I overruled this directive because they are creating a mess,” he added.

He was of the view that roads should be repaired and encroachments should be removed for improving the traffic situation in the city.

According to the DIG, the reason behind ineffective traffic policing was the lack of resources and the shortage of strength. “On Sharea Faisal, where 32 of our officers are working in one shift, we are enforcing the law very effectively. We need to enforce the law in all of Karachi, but I don’t have the resources,” he claimed.

Mr Durrani said that the traffic police have some 1,100 officials but they were not mobile. “We have 400 motorcycles and the situation would be improved further if we get 200 more bikes,” he added.

Mr Durrani said that there were some 976 intersections in the city and some 7,000 officers were needed to regulate the traffic on these intersections in three shifts.

Provincial Secretary for Transport Rasool Bux Phulphoto said that the government could not impose an immediate ban on old buses.

“We are formulating a process to phase out old buses gradually. But it can not be done in the absence of an alternative. We are waiting for the city government’s CNG buses,” he said.

He claimed that 15 to 18-year-old vehicles would not be allowed in the city.

He appreciated the police and the city government for “doing a great job for bringing about improvement in the traffic system.” He urged the transporters to bring new buses into the city in order to give a good transport system to the people of Karachi. He said that the government would provide all possible assistance to the transporters in this regard.

Manfred Richter, former lord mayor of Bremerhaven, Germany, Jameel Hussain, Zaheer-ul-Islam and others also participated in the discussion.