Most of direction signboards along the capital roads are either covered with tree branches or hidden due to installation at inappropriate places, which reflects the apathy of the city managers who have failed to direct the Capital Development Authority (CDA) staff to prune the trees or install these signboards at proper places for guidance of city commuters.
In a city like Islamabad, these signboards are greatly needed. Especially, people coming from other cities find it difficult to reach their destination without the help of these boards. Following the increasing terrorism in the country, most of the roads and U-turns of the capital city have been blocked for several years, but the direction signboards are still there, which are creating many problems for commuters.
“Old and hidden signboards also increase fuel costs, as at many points one finds blocked roads after taking directions from these signboards,” said Javed Akhtar, a resident of Sector F/7. He said it was the responsibility of the authorities concerned to remove the old signboards or to install new ones.
There are several roads, including Nazim-ud-Din Road, Ibn-e-Sina Road, service roads of sectors G/10, G/11, F/11 etc where direction signboards have been installed on the greenbelts but no one can see them. “No doubt, these boards are helping the citizens, but in some areas no one can find them even after covering a long distance,” said Usman Mahmood, a resident of Sector G/6, adding that at some points the signboards became invisible due to wild weeds.
Islamabad Citizens Committee Executive Member Khalil Sufi said their committee had taken up the matter with the CDA high-ups and Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) several times, but they paid no heed to the issue. “The roads have been changed and now it is the CDA’s responsibility to install new signboards carrying the new map of the federal capital,” he said, adding that the direction boards were for the convenience of citizens, not for their inconvenience.
Sufi said the new signboards should be installed at prominent places and must be inscribed with directions in English and Urdu both. The signboards in Islamabad are inscribed with directions in English, which uneducated commuters cannot understand. “All the signboards should be reflective and inscribed with pictures and directions in Urdu,” he said. A similar problem was that the ITP officials often fined citizens for over-speeding despite the fact that the speed warning boards were not visible at most places, he said.
An ITP official told Pakistan Today that on many occasions citizens asked them about the warning boards and reasons for fining. He admitted that it was a great injustice to the people to fine them for something they had not read. “But what can we do because the tree pruning is the CDA’s responsibility and we are responsible for stopping traffic violation.” he said.
Talking to Pakistan Today, CDA Environment Director Muhammad Irfan said every area had its own supervisor who was responsible for ensuring the pruning of trees. “The east section is supposed to look after the trees which fall in sectors F/8, F/7, F/6 and others which are located on the East side of Faisal Avenue, while the west section of the CDA is responsible for the pruning of trees which fall under sectors G/10, G/11 and other areas located on the west side of the Faisal Avenue,” he informed.
However, he said that the burden of cutting wild weeds had increased on them during the monsoon season due to which they could not pay due attention towards the pruning of trees. He, however, added that after receiving any complaints from residents, the concerned official should resolve the issue at once.
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