KARACHI: Traffic jams in the morning and evening rush hours continue to torment the citizens as authorities have failed to resolve the problem despite the construction of many flyovers, underpasses and signal-free roads.
The main reason behind these traffic jams are encroachments along roadsides.
Karachi is the 7th largest city in the world due to a massive rise in population. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Karachi’s population has risen to 14.91 million. Traffic jams are not a new problem for Karachiites as the citizens have been facing the situation for the last two decades.
A long-term planning with a significant increase in the road budget is mandatory to overcome traffic jams of the city, which is also the capital of the province of Sindh.
The traffic jams occur at rush times causing hardships for commuters. The worst traffic jams occur in Saddar, M A Jinnah Road, Shahrah-e-Faisal, Shahrah-e-Liaquat, Korangi Road, Liaquatabad, Teen Hatti, Nazimabad, Drigh Road, Korangi Crossing and Tariq Road areas. Due to the ongoing development projects and their ill-planning this issue has become even more complex.
Karachi was once famous as the city of lights and people used to visit its parks and other public places with ease, but now it is known as the city of bridges, flyovers, underpasses and crippling traffic jams.
The government has completed several road projects to overcome the traffic problem but there hasn’t been any letup as yet. Fact is, the government does not take stern action against encroachment mafias neither does it do anything to reform the traffic police and anti-encroachment departments of DMCs that patronize these mafias.
The city faces agonizing traffic jams during rush hours from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM, and then from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
The reasons for traffic congestions are not only the mismanagement of authorities but also the breach of rules by encroachers, vendors and other citizens.
Reckless driving of buses, bikes and rickshaws has also added to traffic miseries. Furthermore, the traffic police and civic agencies have also made the situation worse by showing negligence in removing encroachments along roads.
Sometimes, on public outcry, they initiate a cosmetic operation but they are not serious about removing the roadside encroachments permanently as it would deprive them of a hefty bribery.
In the 1960s, local trains and trams also used to work in Karachi, but later, the transport mafia replaced them and maintained their monopoly on the cities roads which also caused a rise in traffic jams.
Roadside vendors and extended shops on the roads also cause traffic jams. There is no one to control them as these people pay extortion to the encroachment mafias.
Apart from creating diseases like lung ailments, traffic jams also cause accidents.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 1.25 million people die each year as a result of road accidents. The government needs to come out with concrete measures to resolve the traffic issue of Karachi while the citizens too, need to cooperate with the authorities in this regard.
