Balochistan’s highways a death trap

Road accidents on the rise due to single lanes

Quetta: The absence of proper motorways in the country’s largest province, territory-wise, has resulted in a huge rise in deaths due to road accidents on dilapidated and single roads.

Reportedly, 697 people died in road traffic accidents during the past three years.

According to Medical Emergency Response Center Rescue 1122, 26,663 traffic accidents occurred from October 2019 to December 21, 2022. During this time, 36,008 people were given first aid and transferred to the nearest hospital, while 700 died. Director General Rescue 1122 Asghar Ramzan says that in Balochistan, there are 8 high-passes of 4,500 kilometers, where a large number of small and large passenger and cargo vehicles continue to come and go every day. He said that under the project, 18 out of 25 medical emergency response centers have been built on the national highways of Balochistan. Out of which 8 centers on N-25 Quetta-Chaman Karachi route, 5 on N-50 Quetta- Zhob route, 3 on N-65 Naseerabad route while one emergency response center has been built in N-70.

“We have to build 7 more centers this year under the project,” he said.

Asghar Ramzan said that Rescue 1122 has 24 active ambulances in which there are medical officers and trained medical technicians who provide first aid to patients. “Ambulances and necessary equipment have been provided in all the centers; so that in an emergency they can provide first aid to the injured and transfer them to the nearest hospital in time,” he said.

He mentioned that in 2019, 6000 people died in traffic accidents because at that time there was no emergency service on the highways and people lost their lives on the roads. “However, since the establishment of Rescue 1122, we have significantly reduced the death rate during traffic accidents,” he said.

He said that the main cause of traffic accidents is the narrow and dilapidated roads of Balochistan, the national highways of the province are not paved and due to the single road, 70 per cent of the accidents occur overtaking and crossing vehicles.

He also pointed out that on weekends, motorcyclists go for picnics and do not take road safety seriously, they do not even wear helmets, which increases the chances of more accidents. He said that there have been accidents with passenger buses while saving the motorcycles on most of the national highways. He said that apart from traffic accidents, the staff of Rescue 1122 also provided OPD facilities to 13,564 people.

Above all, it is important to make the national highways of the province safe and avoid speeding by taking into account the traffic rules while traveling. It is mandatory for motorcyclists to wear helmets so that they can be safe in case of traffic accidents. The President of Taftan Bus Transport Union says that there are more accidents on highways due to a single road. “Every six months, this road is broken. Few road repairs are done,” he added.

He said that there is a lot of traffic on the Quetta-Karachi highway, small and big vehicles are on this road, but there is not even an ambulance on this highway.

“It is the responsibility of the Transport Secretary that the vehicles on the routes should be operated according to the timetable,” he added.

“The internal Balochistan timetable was abolished in 2015. Due to this, there are problems on the Quetta Taftan route. Other routes do not have these problems because these routes are operated according to the timetable,” he said.

“We request the Chief Justice that the Taftan Quetta route should also be operated under the timetable. If the highways are doubled, there will be a clear reduction in accidents,” he said.

“It is known that approval was given to double the national highway, but no implementation has been done yet,” he added.

He said the government should double the highway from Chaman to Karachi as soon as possible. The central government is also requested to release funds to improve the national highways.

“Other existing policies including CCTV cameras are not proving to be very effective. If bypasses are constructed, it will reduce the traffic pressure,” he said.

“Due to the non-existence of motorways and highways in Balochistan, drivers try to reduce the travel time and they continue to show carelessness at speed breakers and dangerous turns,” Shahzad Anwar, a frequent traveler on Quetta-Karachi route says. “Even speed limit boards are not displayed on highways,” he added.

He said that the provincial government also does not seem ready to take up its responsibilities in this regard, at least to improve the standard of fitness of the vehicles and make the transporters abide by the rules.

“The provincial government and NHA should jointly take long-term decisions and make the highways two-lane according to modern lines and international standards,” Shahzad said.

It should be mentioned that Balochistan, the largest province, does not have any motorway and is the busiest in respect of its trade route which starts from Chaman to Karachi. Not to mention the western routes of Iranian border which has a separate tale of the deadliest road accidents.