KARACHI: Centre for Guidance, Career Planning and Placement of Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology organized a seminar on “Awareness of Traffic Rules and Regulations”. DIG Traffic Karachi, Ahmed Nawaz Cheema was invited as Chief Guest.
Speaking on the occasion DIG Traffic Ahmed Nawaz Cheema said that the total approved strength of the traffic police is 10,000 and at present 6,000 traffic police personnel are deployed in the traffic police which is 60% of the total requirement and the traffic police is 40 percent understaffed.
Most of the police force is deployed on duties in the Red Zone, facilitating VIP movement, cricket matches, elections etc. Karachi is the country’s economic and commercial hub and the largest city of Pakistan, where the population is increasing day by day. The number of vehicles registered in the city is also increasing and the city’s infrastructure is changing.
In order to meet the shortage of personnel, Traffic Department is planning to initiate recruitment drive. To create awareness among the people about traffic rules, the department is running a comprehensive campaign in the print and electronic media and organizing seminars in the academic institutions. In addition, digital and social media including FM Radio 88.6 is also being used for this purpose.
DIG Ahmed Nawaz Cheema pointed out that the administration has installed cameras on 16 different places in the city to monitor the flow of traffic and 3.93 million challans were issued in 2021. The police department has got body cameras to record on-spot traffic violation. We are discussing with IT experts and software houses to develop a software to improve the traffic system and to make the issuance of challans against traffic rules violation transparent.
Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Vali Uddin said that since driving rules are rarely followed in our country, the university is very keen to work with traffic department to address traffic issues in Pakistan by creating awareness among the students about traffic rules and regulation. Heavy traffic load is causing a number of traffic issue. Smooth flow of traffic on the roads has become a challenge despite measures being taken to regulate the traffic.
Registrar Syed Sarfraz Ali said that during recent years traffic accidents claimed more life due to the reckless driving and not following the traffic rules. It is need of the hour to curb the violation of lanes and signals in order to avoid fatal accidents. At the end of seminar, Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Vali Uddin along with Registrar Syed Sarfraz Ali and Mr. Siraj Khilji presented souvenir to DIG Traffic, Ahmed Nawaz Cheema.