LAHORE  -  The Lahore traffic police have imposed a ban on loader rickshaws entering the city’s major model roads, including The Mall road, Jail Road, Canal Road, Guberg Main Boulevard and Cantonment areas.

Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Amara Athar announced that loader rickshaws carrying oversized and dangerous items such as iron rods, steel pipes, T-iron bars and bamboo would no longer face mere fines, but legal action would be taken against drivers. “The increasing number of loader rickshaws carrying dangerous material poses a significant threat to the safety of other road users,” she said.

Meanwhile, over 11,000 loader rickshaws had already been issued challan tickets for violations. However, stricter measures are now being enforced, with a crackdown targeting overloaded and unsafe vehicles, she said. “There will be no compromise on the safety of lives. From now on, offenders will face FIRs instead of just fines,” the CTO emphasized.

The traffic police official sources told APP that both the drivers and the owners of the rickshaws will be nominated in FIRs, if they exceed the load limits. Moreover, drivers who continue overloading would face a cancellation of their licence.

In this connection special checkpoints have also been set up on Allama Iqbal Road, GT Road, Multan Road, Ferozepur Road and in Shahdara. Traffic police officers will conduct thorough inspections of headlights, backlights, reflectors and indicators of these vehicles to ensure compliance.

CTO Amara Athar in this regard has stated that a rigorous crackdown on dangerous vehicles will also be carried out, by using Safe Cities Authority cameras for better enforcement.

Additional personnel, including eight senior wardens and 24 wardens, have been deployed at the city’s entry and exit points under the supervision of circle officers to ensure the campaign’s effectiveness. It is worth mentioning here that the move has been initiated following several accidents involving overloaded rickshaws.