Protesters demand dualisation of highway in Balochistan

QUETTA         -     A big large crowd came out on street on Tuesday for a pedestrian March from Loralai to Quetta demanding dualisation of highways in the province to avoid road accidents. The increasing road accidents in Balochistan killing people including women, children everyday said, President, Insaf Penal, Asfandyar Khan Kakar while leading the March.

Kakar said the government should expand the busy highways of province and make it dual carriage way.   With increasing traffic especially on Quetta-Karachi and Quetta- Dera Ghazi Khan and Kila Saifullah – Dera Ismail Khan highways, traffic accidents on the highways in Balochistan are on the rise, he added. The government was urged to make a proper mechanism to control the increasing number of road accidents in the province, adding that the narrow single lane highways were one of the major causes for vehicle collisions.   

He said besides the up-gradation and widening of highways in the province the speed of the vehicles plying on the roads should also be checked and monitored on regular basis.  A series of awareness campaigns should be launched across the province to sensitize the commuters regarding safe driving, he added.     Asfandyar said the government must take action against the drivers for over speeding which was the main reason for accidents.

The provincial government was incapable to implement traffic rules to ensure safe driving, he informed adding that most of the drivers were not fulfilling the basic role of driving license.  He said any government organization have not the proper data of road accidents occurs in the province. 

An official of the Balochistan government said that the provincial government had asked National Highway Authority (NHA) to initiate patrolling on the highways of the province by ensuring implementation of traffic rules to help overcome road accidents. The provincial government had already taken measures to improve road infrastructure for the convenience of road users, he said adding that the setting up of Balochistan Traffic Management Bureau, a department for ensuring betterment of traffic system and road infrastructure, was on cards to educate masses on traffic rules, regulations, sign and symbols. To improve the prevailing traffic system, he said the government was also considering to make further legislation on traffic rules. He said under the federal public sector development programme, (PSDP) the dualisation work on Karachi to Quetta road was underway to provide better facilities to the commuters and minimize the number of traffic accidents. He also urged the federal government to include the projects of dualisation of various highways of the province in the next PSDP and initiate more road development projects. To provide quality road infrastructure and accessibility to the masses, the government has devised a comprehensive strategy to improve the communication system across the province.