12-10-2010, 01:25 PM
Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif rightly said that Lahore was in desperate need of parking plazas to reduce congestion on the roads. He called for identifying at least 12 spots in the city where multi-story parking plazas would be built. He referred to The Park and Ride parking plaza near liberty market which is in its final stages of completion. Given the dreadful plight of traffic on the roads, the idea is welcome though it is too little too late.
It is commonplace that shopping plazas and trade centres in our mega-cities are built without fulfilling the basic condition of creating parking places in them. This is no doubt one of the major problems that messes up the traffic. A casual look at the traffic on the roads of Lahore would give an idea of what really needs to be done. Traffic remains invariably choked and the situation simply assumes horrific proportions at the bottlenecks and main inter-sections. The construction of Lahore Ring road is no doubt a step in the right direction but this is not enough. The huge volume of traffic demands that more roads and flyovers should be built not only on certain routes but all over the city. Also large crowds waiting at virtually every bus stop requires better public transport facilities. It must not be forgotten that a decent public transport system can greatly cut congestion because people would prefer to use it as a substitute for their own cars. The VIP movement in the city simply aggravates the situation, as road are blocked for security purposes. Likewise, the authorities also need to take notice of the fact that the security barriers which have now mushroomed everywhere, tend to jam the traffic.
For the picture of chaos on the roads of Lahore and in other main cities of the province to change, it is clear that nothing short of efforts on a war-footing are required. With all their slogans of hard work and commitment, the Punjab government must prove that it can deliver on its promises.
It is commonplace that shopping plazas and trade centres in our mega-cities are built without fulfilling the basic condition of creating parking places in them. This is no doubt one of the major problems that messes up the traffic. A casual look at the traffic on the roads of Lahore would give an idea of what really needs to be done. Traffic remains invariably choked and the situation simply assumes horrific proportions at the bottlenecks and main inter-sections. The construction of Lahore Ring road is no doubt a step in the right direction but this is not enough. The huge volume of traffic demands that more roads and flyovers should be built not only on certain routes but all over the city. Also large crowds waiting at virtually every bus stop requires better public transport facilities. It must not be forgotten that a decent public transport system can greatly cut congestion because people would prefer to use it as a substitute for their own cars. The VIP movement in the city simply aggravates the situation, as road are blocked for security purposes. Likewise, the authorities also need to take notice of the fact that the security barriers which have now mushroomed everywhere, tend to jam the traffic.
For the picture of chaos on the roads of Lahore and in other main cities of the province to change, it is clear that nothing short of efforts on a war-footing are required. With all their slogans of hard work and commitment, the Punjab government must prove that it can deliver on its promises.