Peshawar traffic police had collected Rs 7.9 million in form of fines through issuance of challans to the violators of traffic laws in the city in the month of April 2007, as compared to Rs 21 million collected during the same period last year.
This was stated by Superintendent of Police (SP) Traffic, Peshawar, Romail Akram while addressing a meeting of traders and local industrialists at Sarhad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI) here on Wednesday. SCCI Senior Vice President, Haji Mohammad Israr Saraf presided over the meeting.
He said the government had prepared a summary for extending facilities like Motorway and Lahore police to Peshawar traffic police, saying that a proposal for change in the uniform had also been sent to the provincial government for approval.
The SP Traffic assured the trading community that the city would be purged of illegal bus stands to improve traffic system. He further said that the route of Bara-bound buses would also be changed.
He said that after the inauguration of the new flyover at Sher Shah Soori Bridge a new traffic plan would be arranged for the city. He said that they would also re-arrange the one-way traffic system in both Cantonment and city areas and the school going children would be given information on traffic laws and signals.
These children, he said, would later help promote awareness regarding the traffic system and laws among the people. He said the city district government, town administrations and Cantonment board authorities were responsible for illegal bus stands and encroachments in their jurisdictions. The traffic police, he informed, was closely in touch with these tiers of the government.
Romail Akram said they were also working on bringing change in the attitude of traffic police and they had been directed to accord respect to the vehicle owners before issuing them challans. He said that town municipal administration had also been told to repair traffic signals at various points of the city.
He admitted that thousands of illegal buses and auto-rickshaws were plying on the City roads, saying action against them was underway. In response to plying trucks loaded with export and import goods, the traffic police official assured that a new schedule would be issued shortly for such vehicles.
Earlier, in his welcome address, SCCI Senior Vice President, Haji Mohammad Israr Saraf presented suggestions for bringing improvement in the traffic system. Chairman, SCCI Standing Committee on law and order, Shaukat Ali Khan, Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi, Sharafat Ali Mubarak, Abdul Hameed Gurwara, Haji Mohammad Afzal, Waris Khan Afridi, Haji Aftab Iqbal and others also presented suggestions to improve the system.