IG asks officers to follow special branch guidelines to enforce traffic laws
LAHORE: Provincial Police Officer Dr Usman Anwar has issued directions to his force to initiate action against traffic violations in the light of guidelines provided by the Special Branch following reports that the province has witnessed 82 per cent reduction in head injuries due to the enforcement of traffic laws, particularly the use of helmets by bike riders. The data was presented in a meeting chaired by the IGP to review the recent province-wide drive launched on the instructions of the Punjab chief minister for the improvement of traffic management. Additional IG Special Branch Rao Abdul Karim, Additional IG Operations Muhammad Ali Naikokara, DIG Traffic Waqas Nazir, CTO Lahore/DIG PHP Athar Waheed, and other senior officers attended the meeting. During the session, Punjab Traffic Police DIG Waqas Nazir said that due to effective enforcement of traffic laws, there has been a clear reduction in serious accidents across Punjab, including Lahore. He said that the traffic accident rate remained almost zero in 23 districts, while head injuries of the bike riders reduced by 82 per cent. Mr Nazir further said that over the past three weeks, 2.5 million citizens have obtained driving licences, while 111,000 licences have been issued through mobile licensing units.
Lahore CTO Athar Waheed said that during the past one month, the rate of traffic accidents in Lahore has decreased by 47 per cent. Addressing the meeting, IGP Dr Usman Anwar stressed acceleration of crackdown to ensure effective implementation of traffic laws, reforms and modern systems. He directed the officers to initiate actions against traffic violations in the light of guidelines provided by the Special Branch.The DPOs and District Traffic Officers were directed to personally come out in the field to improve traffic management and pay special attention to traffic management. The IGP asked DPOs to curb online drug peddling, ensure punishment of criminals in narcotics cases, purposeful and targeted night patrolling, and improvement in response time on 15 calls.He issued orders for immediate response at the 1787 Complaint Centre, strict punishment for those responsible for delay in registration of cases and corruption, and regular convening of committee meetings to ensure effective coordination among district police, CCD, Special Branch and other operational units. During the briefing, Rao Abdul Karim said that the special branch is regularly monitoring traffic accidents, violation of traffic laws and drug peddling.
(Daily Dawn)
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