Karachi traffic plan devised to prevent congestion in Ramazan

The Karachi administration has decided to take special measures to improve traffic flow and prevent congestion during Ramazan, particularly during Iftar hours.

The development emerged on Saturday as Karachi Commissioner Syed Hasan Naqvi chaired a meeting to review traffic management plans for Ramazan, which began on Sunday.

The meeting was attended by Transport Secretary Asad Zamin, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Traffic Peer Muhammad Shah, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Municipal Commissioner Afzal Zaidi, and senior officials from town administrations, municipal corporations, and cantonment boards.

DIG Shah informed the meeting that the traffic police would deploy special staff to maintain the flow of vehicles on all busy roads between 2pm to 7pm.

“Help desks will also be set up in markets to improve traffic management during Eid shopping,” DIG Shah added.

It was also decided that various deputy commissioners would hold meetings with market associations to review parking and traffic arrangements in markets in anticipation of the rush during Eid shopping.

During the meeting, deputy commissioners were asked to support citizens by providing facilities, along with the cooperation of associations.

Additionally, the participants of the meeting also reviewed measures to utilise basement parking areas in shopping plazas and commercial buildings instead of using them as warehouses and shops.

It was decided that the basement parking areas of Imtiaz Supermarket on Rashid Minhas Road in Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Chase Up Value on Kashmir Road – currently closed – would be opened immediately, and their owners directed to use them for parking only, according to the commissioner’s spokesperson Sattar Javed.

The deputy commissioners were ordered to take immediate action in this connection.

The South deputy commissioner informed the meeting that in his district, the basement parking of more than 10 commercial buildings had been cleared of warehouses and other encroachments and opened for parking.

Likewise, similar measures are being taken for other buildings.

A day earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched a Rs20 billion Ramazan package for four million deserving families — about 20m people — across the country.

Each family would receive Rs5,000 through digital wallets.