City Traffic Officer (CTO) Rawalpindi Naveed Irshad has advised the tourists travelling to Murree and other hill stations to observe traffic rules to avoid traffic congestion and road mishaps. He urged the motorists to strictly follow the traffic rules and avoid wrong and double parking on the roads of Murree to avoid traffic congestion. The CTO said that over 250 traffic wardens deployed in Murree were directed to take strict action in accordance with the law against the rules violators. He informed that a control room had been set up at the Headquarters to monitor the situation while a helpline 1915 and 051-9269200 for Murree had also been set up. All-out efforts were being made to control traffic in Murree, he said and informed that there was a parking facility of 3500 vehicles in Murree while over 7100 vehicles had entered the hill station. He informed that on the directives of Rawalpindi district administration, maximum 8000 vehicles would be allowed entry into Murree. He informed that the CTP had designated several points for car parking in Murree. A number of main roads including Kashmir Point, Mall Road, Guldana Road and other roads had been closed for two-way traffic to ease traffic flow. Naveed Irshad urged the tourists to cooperate with traffic police so that the traffic mess could be avoided. “The beautiful climate of Murree during summer attracts a large number of tourists so the motorists face severe traffic congestion,” he said adding that traffic moves even slower due to heavy traffic load. He said, the CTP had made special arrangements to facilitate the tourists, coming to Murree. He said, they had deployed senior traffic officers of the CTP to monitor traffic arrangements in the hill station to ensure smooth and safe traffic flow. A dedicated, emergency helpline 051-9269200, had also been introduced for the tourists that could be used round the clock. The CTO advised the tourists to avoid taking selfies in the middle of the roads. An enhanced number of traffic wardens under the supervision of senior traffic officers had been deployed to monitor traffic and guide the tourists, he added. According to a CTP spokesman, Traffic Wardens on the directives of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab, Faisal Shahkar, Regional Police Officer, Rawalpindi and City Police Officer (CPO) Rawalpindi Syed Shehzad Nadeem Bukhari were making all-out efforts to regulate traffic and facilitate the tourists. He informed, Chief Traffic Officer, Rawalpindi Naveed Irshad and other CTP officers were in the field to monitor the situation. The IGP taking notices of slow traffic in Murree had directed the CTP officers to deploy enhance number of Traffic Wardens in Murree to regulate traffic and facilitate the tourists. The spokesman informed that Superintendent of Police, Kohsar and the CTO while remaining in the field were monitoring all the traffic arrangements and ensuring smooth flow of traffic on the roads of Murree. Special pickets had also been set up at all the toll plazas and entrances of Murree to regulate traffic. Rawalpindi Police Radio Station 88.6 and Traffic Police and all the official pages were also providing awareness to the citizens about the situation of the traffic load on the roads of Murree, he added.