Numbing traffic jams in Karachi have become routine. Though Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim doesn’t want Supreme Court to interfere in such matters, People are looking hopefully at the respectable judges. Supreme Court’s suo moto notice of traffic hell in Karachi reflects that how much the situation has aggravated. After the devils of street crimes and load-shedding, Karachi has received yet another gift of hours long traffic jams throughout the Megapolis. Its the sheer incompetency and poor performance of traffic police, which is hapless in this regard. There are so many reasons for this stuck-up dense crowd of traffic, main ones are the absence of traffic police, congested roads, out of order traffic signals, arrangements for VVIPs that hold up traffic, and the still-in-construction roads.
Presence of illegal bus stops, population explosion, encroachments, huge buses and trucks and the unawareness about the traffic laws among the drivers have all added to this monster misery. Its pretty much clear that traffic police cannot handle this single handedly, and it would require the concerted efforts on part of all the departments and people. But the key to the success of this idea is the flawless and timely communication between the departments.
But this is only a temporary solution, which is only good at paper is sure to fall apart. The solution lies in a mass transit project for traffic. To ease the load from the roads, intra-city railway should also be started. I am sure these options would already be there, but one wonders in despair as why not somebody come up with a brave will and vision and take responsibility to ease the misery of Karachi.
The authorities must take some drastic and solid measures rapidly before the snarl of traffic becomes uncontrollable as thousands of cars are being added to the already choked roads each month.
