Senior Leader of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Mir Ramen Mohammad Hasni on Monday urged the government to formulate a proper mechanism to control the increasing rate of road accidents in Balochistan. Talking to APP, he said that the dilapidated and narrow single-lane highways were one of the major causes of vehicle collisions. With increasing traffic especially on Quetta-Karachi and Quetta-Zhob highways, traffic accidents on the highways in Balochistan were getting worse with every passing day, he added.
“It has been six months since seven bridges on national highways washed away but not a single one has been restored,” he added. He said besides the upgradation and widening of highways in the province the fitness of the vehicles plying on the roads should also be checked and monitored on regular basis. The authority concerned should launch a series of awareness campaigns across the province to sensitize the commuters regarding safe driving, he added.
Ramen said the government, along with NHA, must take action against the drivers for speeding which was the main reason for accidents. He said the dualization work on Karachi to Quetta road should be expedited to provide better facilities to the commuters and minimise the number of traffic accidents.
He also urged the federal government to include the projects of dualization of various highways of the province in the next PSDP and initiate more road development projects. “At present, the province has a dilapidated roads network, which needs up-gradation, after the inception of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as for better economic activities in the area proper and smooth thoroughfares are necessary,”.—APP
