Since the launch of the e-challan system to enforce traffic laws in Sindh, Karachi Traffic Police have issued nearly 100,000 challans for various violations, many of them involving heavy fines, triggering public anxiety and criticism of the Sindh government. After launching enforcement under the e-challan system, traffic police have installed signboards at some locations on Shahrah-e-Faisal indicating the prescribed speed limits for vehicles. However, no such boards are visible on other busy roads of the city, including Korangi Road.
On Shahrah-e-Faisal, these signboards have been installed at four locations on each side from the Airport to Avari Hotel. These locations include FTC, Awami Markaz, PAF, Shah Faisal Colony Flyover, and Star Gate.
The boards specify a speed limit of 60 kilometers per hour for light vehicles and 30 kilometers per hour for heavy vehicles. In contrast, no speed-limit signboards were seen anywhere along the entire Korangi Road, from Baloch Colony to Korangi Industrial Area and from Qayyumabad Chowrangi to FTC. Possibly due to this absence, commuters using the road were unaware of the prescribed speed limits.
When the Express Tribune spoke to Zeeshan, a motorcyclist traveling from Korangi to Saddar, he expressed that he was unaware of the speed limit.
Similarly, Habibur Rehman, a car driver traveling from Korangi Industrial Area to Qayyumabad, also revealed that he had no knowledge of any specified speed limit. Another motorcyclist, Adnan Ahmed, traveling from Baloch Colony to Korangi Industrial Area, informed that he had heard from his friends that the Sindh government had set some speed limit, but he was unaware of the details.
According to the spokesperson for Sindh’s Interior Minister Zia ul Hassan Lanjar, the minister has directed the launch of a public awareness campaign regarding traffic laws. Lanjar claimed that he had also instructed the formation of a Traffic Management Committee to review all matters related to fines and challans. Additionally, he claimed that he had suggested that complaints related to e-challans be registered online.
Taha Ahmed Khan, Deputy Parliamentary Leader of MQM Pakistan in the Sindh Assembly, asserted that the Sindh government had shown willingness to reduce the heavy fines imposed on motorcyclists and drivers of 1000cc cars. “The MQM had also proposed to the Sindh government that the names of violators be made public. However, this proposal was not accepted,” said Khan.
Sindh Police sources stated that the number of cameras installed in the city currently allowed monitoring of approximately 40 per cent of Karachi’s roads, with the highest concentration in District South. As a result, the number of e-challans in District South was higher than in other districts.
Following public backlash, the Sindh government formed a committee to consider reducing the fines for certain traffic violations; however, no final decision has been made so far. According to Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Ali Khurshidi, the committee’s last meeting was held in December, and its next meeting is expected this week.