Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) has disconnected power supply of thousands of traffic signals in the sprawling metropolis city of Lahore due to non-payment of electricity bills endangering lives of over 10 million people. Lesco sources told Business Recorder here on Friday that Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA) has failed to clear electricity bills, therefore, electric supply has been disconnected.
Meanwhile, massive traffic jams are occurring throughout the city after non-functioning of traffic signals specially at the time of opening and closing of government and privates offices, schools, colleges and universities. The number of traffic wardens is not sufficient to handle the traffic on such a massive scale. Besides, construction for the metro bus project has also added to the miseries of the commuters of Multan road, Ferozepur road, lower Mall, G T road.
Traffic wardens at various points of the city told this scribe that traffic has become chaotic, unruly because drivers, whether of a bus, wagon, car, rickshaw or motorcycle are always impatient and in such a hurry that most of the time they even forget whether they intended to turn left or right.
The drivers ignore cautions of the traffic wardens in the absence of the traffic signals choking the traffic crossings and roads, wardens deplored. Sources further said that Lesco Samanabad division has disconnected electricity connections of the government departments in Premnagar, Samanabad, Ittehad Colony and Saidpur, which have defaulted to pay electricity bills amounting to Rs 6.7 million.