String of unfortunate road accidents

Photo courtesy: SMBBIT 
Owing to poor road network and unregulated road traffic, the metropolitan city of Karachi used to witness road accidents almost on daily basis but this February came as a horrible month in terms of string of accidents that occurred due to rash driving of heavy vehicles in the city. Dumper trucks, water or fuel supply tankers and trailers played havoc with the lives of the city dwellers, causing numerous deaths and multiple injuries to many others.

Karachi experienced a surge in traffic accidents this month, particularly involving heavy vehicles, resulting in deaths and injuries followed by grief and anger and resulting in torching of vehicles involved in the accidents. Though the culprit drivers were reportedly arrested, such incidents didn’t stop to occur.

As many as 14 people including two women and five children reportedly lost their lives in such road accidents only in the first week of February. As per reports, a dumper truck ran over pedestrians on a road linking Ibrahim Hyderi to Korangi Crossing on February 9 killing three people on the spot. Same day, a motorcyclist failed to survive near Safoora Chowrangi after being reportedly hit by a speeding car.

IV file photo

The gravity of such incidents on roads made the Sindh governor to write two letters on the subject to the chief justice of the Sindh High Court. On February 14, he urged the provincial top judge to ensure stringent actions for addressing the rising number of traffic fatalities, emphasising that the loss of innocent lives is unacceptable.

In the meantime a report carried by Social Track mentioned that the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Institute of Trauma in Karachi and Larkana collectively received an average of 240 road traffic accidents per day in 2024. The Karachi centre recorded 47,922 RTA cases, i.e., 27% of the total trauma cases last year.

No doubt traffic accidents have been an issue long plaguing the Sindh province, particularly Karachi, resulting in alarming number of deaths and injuries, along with other damages. Such a situation exposes the administrative inadequacies and dilapidated road infrastructure that exposes both the motorists and pedestrians to traffic accidents as well as showing brutal neglect of authorities towards ensuring public safety.

It is high time for the quarters at the helm of affairs to rise to the occasion by coming up with immediate and concrete measures for regulating heavy traffic as well as coming down hard on rash driving so as to ensure road safety for motorists and pedestrians.

Editorial/Social Track, Karachi

With an uninterrupted 23-year career in daily journalism (1991-2013), the author/editor of this blog currently serves as Editor of Social Track, a weekly newspaper focused on social sectors, based in Karachi. Holding a master's degree in Mass Communications from the University of Karachi (1990), his professional experience includes roles as senior reporter at Daily Dawn, Karachi (May 2001-August 2013) and Chief Reporter at The News International, Karachi (April 1991-May 2001). He has a strong background in development journalism, he has an extensive portfolio of news stories, analytical reports and features covering a wide range of sectors. He has had the privilege of covering numerous high-profile figures, including Pakistani presidents, prime ministers, army chiefs, foreign dignitaries, and VVIPs and attending conferences and workshops abroad. He began his journalism career in the early 1980s. Throughout his career, he has received several national awards from government and private organisations. He has contributed to various radio and TV/channel broadcasts and has also served as a trainer at workshops in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, focused on training journalists.

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