The Sindh government has stepped up action against unfit and unsafe vehicles, with more than 56,000 vehicles fined across the province over the past year, the Sindh Assembly was told.
During Question Hour, Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon informed lawmakers that enforcement drives led to challans against 56,200 heavy vehicles, resulting in fines worth Rs820 million. Mr Memon, who also heads the transport department, said the action was part of wider efforts to improve road safety and bring order to the transport system.
According to details shared with the house, the vehicles fined included 30,917 trucks, 13,918 trailers, 6,109 water tankers, 2,935 dumpers, 2,138 oil tankers and 183 tractors.
Mr Memon said vehicle fitness certificates were previously issued manually, with no proper record in place. This allowed vehicles from other provinces, including KP and Balochistan, to obtain fitness certificates from Sindh without proper checks.
He told the assembly that the entire system had now been computerised and no vehicle was allowed to operate on roads without a digital fitness certificate.
Responding to questions on public transport, the minister said the process to purchase new buses was underway and some units had already arrived at the port. He added that the provincial cabinet had approved the purchase of 500 additional buses.
Around 200,000 passengers now use Sindh government buses daily, he said, while ridership on the Green Line BRT had risen from 50,000 to about 85,000 passengers per day. He added that the Green Line and Orange Line had been integrated to remove double fares, while pink buses were operating on BRT routes to facilitate women passengers.
Mr Memon said no new route permits were being issued, and expired permits were not being renewed on routes where government buses were already operating.
On traffic management, the minister said 12 new traffic signals had been installed at key locations across the city, including Model Colony, Gulberg, Tipu Sultan Road, Guru Mandir and Steel Town.
Work on a traffic smart system and smart city project was also in progress, with some signals operating automatically and others manually, depending on local needs.
He further said a free shuttle service had been introduced after the relocation of the bus terminal outside the city. The Sindh government had also launched a free EV scooty scheme for women. He noted that while only 150 women previously held motorcycle licences in the province, around 15,000 had now applied.
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