PESHAWAR, March 19: Regular traffic congestions are being witnessed on the University Road due to lack of coordination between the traffic police and the city district government.

The situation gets worst during peak morning and evening hours as long queues of vehicles are seen on both sides of the road.

This is a historical thoroughfare that connects the city with Afghanistan via Torkham, but the irresponsible attitude on part of officials concerned has made the situation so cumbersome that no body using the road can reach their destinations on time. During emergencies, taking patients to hospitals becomes a difficult task.

The air pollution on the route has also increased manifold due to rise in the number of vehicles.

Students and employees of government and private organisations are the worst affected because there is no alternative route. There are service roads, but they have either been occupied by owners of car bargainers, or are being used by rickshaw, pickup and taxi drivers as their stands. Shopkeepers, hoteliers and other businessmen have also occupied the road in front of their outlets and many of them park their vehicles on the road.

There is no designated stop for picking or dropping passengers on the main road. Some people have stocked construction materials on roadsides, which are not only creating hurdles in the traffic flow but also causing accidents at night when there is power outage.

Millions of rupees have been spent on construction of three underpasses to ease the traffic load on the road but most of people are not using them.

Talking to Dawn, a traffic police official suggested that traffic signals should be installed at the University Town Chowk, Spin Jumaat Chowk and in front of the Customs House to help regulate the system. “The traffic police are trying to manually regulate the traffic, but in case of their absence, the situation gets serious,” he said.

He said parking of vehicles in double lanes should be banned and encroachments removed from roadsides. He said the number of traffic police personnel deputed on roads up to the Hayatabad Chowk was not sufficient to regulate the traffic.