PESHAWAR, Jan 4: Auto-rickshaw drivers of the provincial capital on Wednesday ended their strike against the new traffic plan and said they would follow the law to help organise vehicular traffic.

Vice president Rickshaw Drivers' Union Murad Khan told Dawn that the strike was formally called off after a meeting with capital city police officer (CCPO) Peshawar Imtiaz Altaf at the Malik Saad Khan police lines.

“We've agreed that some will paint rickshaws white and others yellow so that they could be run in two shifts from today (Thursday). The officials of Town-I are charging Rs500 from each rickshaw and we have filed a case in the court against it,” he said. He said most rickshaw drivers were poor and couldn't afford to be on strike any longer.

A source said traffic police didn't show leniency in the talks with rickshaw drivers and asked them in plain words to follow the law or keep their tri-wheelers off the roads.

He said the CCPO told rickshaw drivers that traffic police never wanted to deprive them of their livelihood and instead wanted them to follow the law in the best interests of road users.

The source said Mr Altaf told visitors that public transport vehicles won't be allowed to come onto the roads until they were registered with the excise and taxation department and got route permits from the transport department.

He quoted the CCPO as saying in the meeting that the city had only 10,000 rickshaws with all necessary documents, while rickshaws of almost the same number were registered with taxation department but had no route permit.

Mr Altaf also said 20,000 to 30,000 rickshaws in Peshawar were without documents and most of them were brought in from other districts and that they would be sent back to their respective areas.

The CCPO also told visitors that drivers arrested by police would have to secure their release by following the law as after registration of FIR, only the court could free them.

When contacted, SSP (traffic) Peshawar Najeebur Rehman said different issues were discussed in the meeting but it was clear that registration of public transport vehicles was required to get data about their owners.

About the plan to reduce traffic load on the roads, he said he had planned a meeting with the director general Peshawar Development Authority over condition of roads, U-turns, traffic lights, road widening and installation of cat eyes on the roads.

He further said traders had been taken into confidence on removal of encroachments from alongside the roads, especially on narrow and busy Ashraf Road and Qissa Khwani and Khyber Bazaar roads to ensure smooth flow of traffic.

“Of late, I met leaders of trader unions and discussed with them encroachment removal. A one-month non-stop campaign will be begun soon to clear all areas of encroachments,” he said. During the campaign, he said motorcars used as taxis without permits would also be checked as they also seemed to have established their own cartel.

About congestion on Jamrud Road, he said there were several viable suggestions, including construction of underpasses and closure of U-turns. He said he would soon hold a meeting with the chief executive officer of the Peshawar cantonment board to discuss vehicular traffic problems in areas under his administrative control.