Daily Times

KARACHI: Frequent and prolonged traffic jams on major roads have been causing severe hardships and agony to commuters and residents in the country’s largest metropolitan, forcing people to spend more time on roads instead of their homes.

Long queues of vehicles on roads for hours are making commuters frustrated.

The number of vehicles is growing at a fast pace in the metropolis, which is one of the major contributor to traffic jams across major and minor arteries.

Besides construction of major arteries in the city, it looks like traffic police and city administration has no plan to resolve the serious issue that may become tsunami for everyone very soon.

Commuters are finding alternate ways and routes to reach in time to their destinations but they have a very few options in the absence of proper public transport system in the city.

Today, there is no proper public transport system exists in the metropolis with shrinking of bus routes in almost all parts of Karachi. Lack of public transport may create a very serious traffic bomb that could detonate any time in near future.

The transport planners should work on a ‘war footing basis’ to resolve the issue as they (government) have already got late to provide proper road and transport system to public.

Interestingly, commuters are facing prolonged traffic jams and there is no one to rescue or guide them to ease traffic congestions on the city’s main arteries.

Experts say the provincial government should plan an efficient mass transport system within the metropolis instead of leaving things on the mercy of visionless government officials or departments.

Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) is a long standing need of the city that was ignored both by the provincial and federal governments since long.

The KCR project could serve the general public immensely but it should be designed to cater at least five to eight million people to transport them beyond its planned requirement.

The major arteries including Shahrae Faisal, M. A. Jinnah road, University Road, Rashid Minhas, Shahrae Pakistan, Korangi road and some other link roads of the city should be redesigned and extended to allow a smooth flow to the vehicular traffic.

Traffic police lacks proper staffing and training as most of them are seen busy in minting money from motorists without helmets and documents.

The city administration and traffic police department has failed to co-ordinate and resolves such a serious growing issue of traffic jams. Both authorities have been blaming lack of resources and staffing of their concerned departments.