Centre for Guidance, Career Planning & Placement of Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology on Friday organised a seminar on ‘Awareness of Traffic Rules and Regulations’.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Traffic Karachi Ahmed Nawaz Cheema, who was chief guest at the seminar, said that the total approved strength of the traffic police was 10,000, and at present only 6,000 officials were deployed in the department, according to a statement issued here on Friday.
Most of the police personnel was deployed in the Red Zone, facilitating VIP movement, and performing special duties during cricket matches and elections etc, Nawaz said.
Karachi was the country’s economic and commercial hub and the most populous city of Pakistan.
The number of registered vehicles in the city was increasing, and with it the city’s infrastructure was changing, he said. He said that the Traffic Department was planning to initiate a recruitment drive to meet the shortage of personnel.
Nawaz said that the department was running a comprehensive campaign in the print and electronic media, and organizing seminars in the academic institutions to create awareness among the people about traffic rules.
FM Radio 88.6 was also dedicated to educating people on traffic related matters. In addition, social media was also being used for the purpose.
He pointed out that the administration had installed cameras on 16 different places in the city to monitor the flow of traffic and 3.93 million challans were issued in 2021. He said that the traffic wardens were given body cameras to record on-spot traffic violations. They were discussing with IT experts and software houses to develop a software to improve the traffic system to improve monitoring, control, and transparency, he added.
Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr Vali Uddin said that the university was very keen to work with the traffic department to address traffic issues in Pakistan by creating awareness among the students about traffic rules and regulations.
