A wake-up call for NH&MP
Inspector General
National Highways & Motorways Police (NH&MP), Zulfiqar Cheema is
reputedly one of the finest officers. Recently he came up with the idea of
establishing ‘wake-up points’ for the drivers on motorways. Unfortunately,
NH&MP need to wake up its operational staff more than ‘wake up points’ for
the drivers. Some negligent incidents have been taking place right under the
nose of the NH&MP officials, which could have been resulted into a total
devastation.
On October 31 I was
traveling in a local bus with the registration number Peshawar C-9543 from
Rawalpindi to Lahore. This vehicle was all set to hit the road with its
pathetic traveling conditions. As the bus checked in from the Rawalpindi toll
plaza, it was reverted back due to another major problem: the bus was traveling
without any route permit. The driver had previous experience of ditching the
NH&MP staff, so he decided to take another route. The bus thus checked in
from the Turnol entry point of the motorway and this time there was no watchdog
looking out for illegal vehicles. The bus traveled from Rawalpindi to Pindi
Bhattian and there was not even a single patrolling staff to check if this
vehicle fits the rules and regulation of our state-of-the-art road authority.
For four hours, the vehicle remained on the motorway, checked in and out on
several toll plazas to drop and pick passengers but still the authorities were
in deep slumber.
Imagining the worst
part of this whole scenario, the vehicle could have been full of explosive
material. The idea of dialing the helpline was in vain as the helpline wasn’t
accessible. The driver of this bus was confident enough to claim that he had
breached and ditched the NH&MP authorities a number of times and the
stories of other such stunts were the actual source of inspiration for
him.
Keeping in mind the importance of motorways and how it connects the
federal capital with the center and south of Punjab, it is quite pertinent to
say that this was a disaster and suitably a question mark on the performance of
the authorities that claim to be the most efficient.
Meanwhile, I changed
the bus at Pindi Bhattian. I was enraged over the negligence of the NH&MP
authorities. The second bus moved at a snail’s pace and suddenly stopped
to give a short lift to a NH&MP patrolling officer. What happened next was
quite shocking for me. The officer upon listening to my complaint said that
NH&MP had been facing shortage of staff on entrance points due to which
such events had become a routine. More surprisingly, he alleged the NH&MP
high-ups were being stricter regarding the revenue generating fine-tickets than
looking for such security lapses. He claimed that senior officers of NH&MP
demanded more fine-tickets for revenue generation.
The officer claimed
that senior officers focus on sternness instead of crisis resolution. He
claimed that there were various entry points on the motorway, which are
operational without any security staff; the only staff available there is toll
plaza managers. In this context, motorways can turn into a safe haven for the
criminals where one can run as fast as possible right under the nose of our so called
proficient authorities.
-By Syed Zuhaib Hussnain
The original article was published in the nation newspaper on 10-Nov-2014
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