Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has urged the adoption of artificial intelligence to better enforce traffic rules in the province.
During a meeting focused on improving traffic flow in Lahore, CM Punjab ordered the removal of temporary encroachments from 31 locations across the city. However, she specifically directed the officials not to remove carts belonging to poor vendors.
The Chief Minister stressed the importance of allocating specific areas for them instead. Furthermore, she issued orders for effective road engineering and design at 82 sites, along with the repair of roads at 28 places in Lahore to improve the flow of traffic.
Maryam Nawaz also ordered the installation of ‘tire killers’ at 88 locations across the city to deter violations of one-way traffic regulations. She also emphasized the need for installing digital screens to display warning messages in the event of traffic jams on the roads.
Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Ammara Athar provided a comprehensive briefing to the Chief Minister regarding a traffic management program.
She stated that in the initial phase, an e-challan service would be launched, utilizing the Safe City Authority surveillance cameras to enforce regulations regarding helmet usage on motorcycles and seat belt compliance in vehicles.
In the second phase, the issuance of e-challans will commence based on monitoring through the cameras of violations of 24 traffic rules. In a bid to enhance road safety, the traffic police have initiated a fresh crackdown against motorcyclists who drive without helmets.
According to police reports, in the past year, over 90 percent of motorcyclists in the provincial capital have started wearing helmets.