Humaira Motala
KARACHI– The largest Metropolitan of Pakistan, Karachi’s notoriously chaotic roads are showing signs of discipline. Traffic accidents in the city have fallen by more than 300 cases this year, while deaths from heavy vehicle crashes have been cut almost in half, DIG Traffic Pir Mohammad Shah told industrialists at KATI on Tuesday.
Speaking at the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry, the DIG Shah credited “relentless enforcement and tech upgrades” for the turnaround. Police data shared at the event showed accidents dropped from 806 last year to 569 so far this year. The bigger win: fatalities from trucks, dumpers and water tankers fell from 155 to 75.
The drop comes as Karachi ramps up surveillance. The city currently has 1,300 traffic cameras monitoring violations and flow. Another 2,250 cameras are set to go live soon, which would take the total to 3,500 — one of the largest urban monitoring networks in Pakistan.
KATI President Muhammad Akram Rajput, VP Muhammad Tahir Khan, former President Junaid Naqi, and District SSP Traffic were also present. Business leaders at Korangi Industrial Area have long flagged heavy traffic as a safety and logistics headache, so the numbers drew attention at the gathering.
For a city where traffic jams and crashes are daily realities, the decline signals that enforcement through cameras and stricter heavy vehicle rules may finally be shifting the needle.
