Daily Times

LAHORE: The campaign launched by the City Traffic Police against encroachments and illegal parking stands is in full swing

According to details, traffic police has issued warning notices to several shopkeepers and other troublemakers in this regard. During the crackdown, traffic police had registered 818 cases against those who were responsible for creating hurdles in smooth traffic flow on different roads of the city.

Meanwhile, Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) DIG Traffic Captain (r) Syed Ahmed Mobeen has said that on the directives of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, local police, traffic police, traders, notables of the areas, government officials and others are holding meetings on a daily basis to resolve traffic issues across the city. He said that traffic police had issued warning notices to shopkeepers against encroachment and illegal parking stands that genuinely interrupt flow of traffic on all busy roads across the city.

He directed the superintendents of police (SPs) to keep a vigilant eye on illegal parking lots and encroachments to keep the flow of traffic smooth. He said that he had issued strict instructions to all traffic police officers in order to ensure smooth flow of traffic. He said no hurdles would be tolerated on roads and strict action would be taken against responsible people.

Moreover, the CTP spokesperson has the campaign has started yielding positive results. He said cases would be registered against violators of traffic rules them under section 290 and 291.

Talking to Daily Times, commuters Sibtain, Zain and several others said, “No such action was being taken by authorities concerned. There are still a lot of illegal parking, stands in the city and this has put a big question mark on the performance of the traffic police and other departments concerned.”

They said that cases were being registered against several shopkeepers for violating rules but they were released after paying minor fines.

A traffic warden, seeking anonymity, told Daily Times that lack of proper planning during construction of big plazas was responsible for traffic mess. He held the Lahore Development Authority responsible for this, saying the authority should have ensured that all shopping plazas have parking lots.