ISLAMABAD: National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP) informed the Senate Panel on Communications that Motorway Police are not deployed at this location and the accident occurred 21km away from the operational area of NHMP.
The Senate Standing Committee on Communications met under the Chairmanship of Senator Prince Ahmed Umer Ahmedzai here at the Parliament House on Monday.
The DIG NHMP informed the committee that 99 per cent of accidents are caused due to over speeding, intoxication, vehicle fitness and overloading.
He said vehicle fitness is not the mandate of the NHMP, however, 855 vehicles were given challan last year. He said that the 380 km area is non-operational which is highly contributing to accidents.
Speaking on the occasion, Senator Kamil Ali Agha said that one main cause is smuggled petrol from these areas in overloaded trucks which has no check and it becomes the reason for accidents.
The committee urged the ministry and NHMP to play their role to curb road accidents which are destroying thousands of families. It was also recommended to strike the challan criteria against the drivers under influence of drugs to drive.
The committee showed displeasure with the absence of the minister and remarked that public representation is incomplete without the minister and at least he should show presence once to make himself aware of the concerns discussed in the Senate Committee meetings.
The committee discussed irregularities in the award of contracts under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) raised by Senator Saifullah Abro. The committee was briefed about Kharian-Rawalpindi Motorway Project that the said project is at a premature stage and bids are being received.
The committee while taking a briefing on the National Highway (N -25 ) Karachi- Quetta – Chaman project said that it is a very crucial project from several points of view including road accidents. The committee said that it is also a very important project from the trade point of view and recommended that the project must be prioritized.
The committee was briefed that NHA has planned dualization and rehabilitation of the entire N-25 (790 Kms) in different sections. The committee was informed that the dualization of the Khuzdar-Kuchlak section of N-25 extended up to 330 km costing PC -1 million Rs 81,582.219 out of which 2,643,43 million have been utilized.
The committee was briefed by the DG of Pakistan Post Services on the recruitment strength and the summary of the recruitment process. The chairman committee inquired on the number of sanctioned posts in every province to which it was informed that there are a total of 32,000 sanctioned posts however the number of posts depends on the establishment of post offices.
The meeting was attended by senators Shamim Afridi, Danesh Kumar, Hafiz Abdul Karim, Umer Farooq, Kamil Ali Agha and Senator Saifuallah Abro. Senior officials from the Ministry, the NHA and other concerned departments were also in attendance.