Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) designated as Model Traffic Police has started toeing the line of traffic police of other areas of the country with departing from its slogan of “first salam then challan” and has in fact shifted to ‘first challan then salam’.

Islamabad Traffic Police was accorded the status of MTP in 2005 but now deterioration has set in to such extent that it has abolished the training programme launched for imparting training to citizens in traffic norms a few years back.

Earlier, the traffic police would deliver flowers and pamphlets to the citizens on key highways to educate them about traffic rules.

Traffic police has now parted ways with code of ethics and such deviation from the path of character fortification has led to day to day growing quarrels, bickering and clashes between traffic police and citizens.

Traffic jam has become daily routine in Islamabad which is named as epicentre of roads as a network of roads and highways is laid therein. If one highway is closed down due to arrival of some VIP or public rallies then the traffic of the entire city becomes hostage to congestion owing to non issuance of any alternative traffic plan. In this perspective the citizens have to undergo an agonizing situation when heavy fines are slapped by traffic police in the name of breach of traffic norms.

A few years back MTP served as ideal traffic police for other cities of the country but it has now turned into a source of nuisance for the citizens.

The heavy penalties being imposed on the citizens are aimed at grabbing money from them rather than reforming traffic system, citizens said.