Despite the push towards being a smart city, only 40% Traffic Signals in Islamabad are functional

While continuous efforts are being made to make Islamabad a smart city after Lahore, authorities seem to be failing at the very basic step of ensuring traffic regulations. A senior official of the Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) said that only 40 percent of traffic signals installed in the federal capital at different intersections are in working condition while talking to the national newswire agency APP last Friday.

According to the official, despite repeated requests to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) from the ITP; there are total 83 signals across the capital, out of which only 33 signals are working, while the remaining 50 signals (roughly 60 percent) are not functioning correctly.

Previously we saw in November how around 600 cameras of the Safe City project weren’t functional which further add to the delay behind the automation of tasks in the capital city. The official said regarding the faulty traffic signals, “ITP have pointed out time and time again about the malfunctioning of signals to the CDA, who is supposed to ensure timely maintenance of the traffic infrastructure. Apparently, due to financial constraints, we have received no response from CDA. This is the primary reason behind department’s abysmal performance over the recent past.”

The ITP official has urged the senior officers to take the required steps and pass necessary directives to the relevant authorities as faulty traffic signals can lead to fatal road accidents. This comes as a shocker from Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP), which has not only raised the bar for maintaining order on the streets but has also penalized those who have violated the traffic laws.

Meanwhile, a CDA official from Traffic and Engineering Wing confirmed that the ITP has highlighted the issue several times, but CDA is also bound due to financial constraints. “Nonetheless a proposal has been sent to the Engineering and Maintenance wing, which finalized it and forwarded to higher authorities for final approval,” he added.

However, the CDA officials deny the claims of the ITP official. As per the CDA officials, there are total 104 signals installed in Islamabad’s Zone-I, 16 are not working and 13 are closed due to different reasons.