Karachi Traffic Police Department reopened two-way vehicular traffic on Rafiqui Shaheed Road for facilitating emergency patients and residents going to nearby hospitals and adjacent areas respectively, Traffic DIG Dr Amir Ahmed Shaikh said on Monday.
DIG Amir said after receiving lots of complaints from residents and patients, they had stepped back to reopen the road for improving traffic system; however, the public transport, particularly buses and mini-buses would still not be allowed to ply on the road.
Rafiqi Shaheed Road, which is connected to four major hospitals – Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), National Institute of Cardio Vascular Diseases (NICVD), National Institute of Child Health (NICH) and Kidney Centre – had turned into one-way road in January through a decision made at a high level meeting presided over by former Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah.
The vehicles coming from Korangi Road was not allowed to take a left turn on Kalapul Road while they had to take Shahrah-e-Faisal turning onto Regent Plaza junction towards Rafiqui Shaheed Road which had created traffic mess around this road and caused trouble to local residents and emergency patients as they had to take long route.
The traffic DIG said, “The decision is made to keep traffic from clogging outside these important health facilities. Shahrah-e-Faisal is facing abnormal traffic pressure at the Regent Plaza intersection due to traffic coming from Rafiqi Road after it became one-way; we were able to make Shahrah-e-Faisal signal free at this junction, however, now all commuters and patients can use Rafiqui Road for two-way traffic.”
The DIG warned all owners of private ambulances parked along Rafiqui Raod to vacate the road which had been encroached by them illegally causing traffic congestion and trouble to other road users. He said that no one would be allowed to make hurdles in traffic in any way.
