Traffic management plan for capital approved

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Monday approved Traffic Management Plan for the capital city aimed at easing traffic congestion and to address traffic related issues faced by the citizens on various roads of Islamabad especially during peak hours.
The new traffic management plan to be kicked off Tuesday under the supervision of Chief Commissioner and Additional IG Police comprises of two stages. A 10-day comprehensive public awareness campaign would start from today followed by 30-days strict implementation period.
As per the plan approved by the Interior Minister, the first phase of the strategy would be focusing on four major arteries of the capital city including Kashmir Highway, Islamabad Highway, Murree road and Express Way would be managed through additional deployment of the ICT Traffic police at choking points and congested routes. The scope of the plan would be broadened after review to cover other roads of the capital.
The Interior Minister today also directed Secretary Interior to take provinces on-board for evolving a uniform policy regarding issuance of arms licenses and vehicle registration system in the federal capital as well as in the provinces.
Discussing the issue of lifting ban on arms licenses, the Interior Minister directed that a comprehensive strategy should be worked out for issuance of arms licenses. Giving guidelines about the future strategy, the Minister said that arms licenses to various institutions, media houses, educational institutes, parliamentarians, judges of superior judiciary and personnel of armed forces would be issued in a phased manner. However it is important that there is uniformity of policy among the federal and the provincial governments and that a digital record of every weapon is maintained by NADRA.
The Interior Minister has also directed ICT administration to further broaden the campaign against drug peddlers in the educational institutions of the federal capital. The Minister was informed that during the ongoing campaign against narcotics, launched on the directives of the Interior Minister, so far 95 cases have been registered and 101 accused have been arrested. 29723 grams of hashish, 1655 gram heroin, 40668 bottles of liquor and 373 liters of alcohol has been seized in the campaign.
ICT administration also informed that in the ongoing campaign against food adulteration and sale of sub-standard food, launched on the Interior Minister's directives, 3000 premises were raided and a fine of Rs 180,000 was imposed on various food outlets, hotels and clinics.
The Minister directed that civil society and market committees should be taken onboard to ensure success of the food adulteration campaign. On the issue of Pakistan Origin Card, the Minister also directed Interior Secretary and Chairman NADRA to formulate a comprehensive policy in order to address the issues faced by various citizens.-PR