LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has directed to initiate necessary steps for reducing traffic congestion in Lahore and other cities of the province. He has sought necessary recommendations from traffic police and other line departments for improving the traffic system in the province. He has directed that comprehensive planning should be devised to improve the traffic flow adding that hurdles and encroachments should be removed because they affect the smooth traffic flow. He said that traffic flow should be improved through a coordinated system because frequent traffic jams also result in socio-economic and psychological problems in society. He said the best traffic system reflects the civilized society and an organized awareness campaign should be run to educate the people. The flow of traffic at entry and exit points of Lahore and other major cities should be improved, he added.
The Chief Minister said that the organized traffic system is imperative to deal with the related problems as the population is increasing and the traffic system will have to be improved through effective traffic management and re-engineering. Similarly, people visiting the cities will have to be facilitated through effective traffic management. Practical steps should be taken to improve the traffic flow at entry and exit points and effective implementation should be ensured so that the people could be facilitated, he added. Instead of sitting idle, practical steps will have to be taken for providing relief to the people. In this regard, the traffic officials will have to work with dedication, commitment and passion to provide relief to the people through improved traffic system because their role is very pivotal in this regard. He said that line departments are duty- bound to relieve the citizens of traffic problems by bringing improvements in the traffic system. The line departments should fulfill their responsibilities and practical steps should be initiated instead of any lip service to facilitate the people. The line departments are responsible to come up to the emerging challenges of traffic through comprehensive planning, he added.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has directed to initiate crackdown for removing the beggars from the city chowks. The beggars should be removed from roads in Lahore and other cities as traffic flow is affected due to them. The social welfare department should devise recommendations for such beggars and the begging children should be enrolled in Child Protection Bureau, the Chief Minister concluded.