Rawalpindi: Traffic jams become trademark of BBS Road

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Imran Asghar

RAWALPINDI: Traffic mess on Benazir Bhutto Shaheed (BBS) Road has become order of the day as traffic wardens have seemingly failed to bring order on roads.

As usual, the road witnessed one of the city’s worst traffic jams on Wednesday, directly affecting routine of life and creating problems for motorists and pedestrians.

The City Traffic Police (CTP) had to deployed additional traffic force to ensure order on the road.

Road users told Daily Times that encroachments, illegal parking, faulty traffic signals, growing number of vehicles, narrow roads, slow moving handcarts and mini trucks were the main cause for traffic hurdles.

“Encroachments and illegal parking are creating traffic mess on narrow stretches of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road,” said Muhammad Bilal, a cabbie. He said traffic police and Rawal Town Administration had made tall claims to resolve traffic problems but failed.

He said traffic jams had affected his business because he had to consume more than usual fuel for a short distance. He appealed to the Punjab governor to notice the situation and remove encroachments.

Muhammad Jamal, a pickup driver, said traffic wardens did not have ability to solve traffic problems. “To pass through Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road freely has become a dream,” he said. He said traffic jams from Committee Chowk to Naz Cinema had become permanent.

Sana, a student, said mess on Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road showed incompetence of traffic police. She said the road had been named after one of the world’s greatest politicians but its traffic problems are aggravating day by day.

“This is the city’s busiest road so it needs extra care,” she said, urging Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) to make a comprehensive traffic plan for Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road.

Asad Ali, a commuter, said a public transport vehicle took more than one hour from KFC Chowk to Faizabad because of traffic jams, which was a waste of time for hundreds of commuters. He said he could not understand why well-trained traffic wardens had failed to regularise traffic.

A traffic police officer said traffic problems grew because of protest rallies that followed disqualification of Sharif brothers. He said roads should be widened and encroachments removed. He said Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) had assured CTP to remove flaws in road engineering.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg11_4