Peshawar: A resident of Hayatabad’s Sector D-5 on Tuesday submitted a petition in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) against vehicular movement in several residential areas of Hayatabad Township in Peshawar, a news source reported. Iftikhar Ahmad Malik, in his application, requested the court to order the provincial government to ban the movement of heavy traffic in the localities.
Malik also asked the Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) to place barriers on all entry and exit points of Hayatabad Township; specifically for those roads leading to Phase-I of Sector D-5 – which is a residential area. The same locality has recently been under contention as the civil society joined hands with environmentalists to demand measures for controlling pollution levels in the area.
The petitioner’s lawyer, Kamran Qaiser, told the bench that due to complaints from residents steel barriers were put up a few years back but those were damaged due to maintenance issues. Heavy traffic, including container trucks, now use the narrow streets as entry and exit points for the adjacent industrial area. The lawyer stated that this was a cause of great distress for the residents of the area as they had to bear heavy traffic jams and were prone to multiple diseases and the value of their houses had gone down.
Following a preliminary hearing, the PHC bench issued notices to the respondents of the petition to submit their replies to the court. The respondents include the local government secretary, the provincial chief secretary, the PDA director general, station house officer of the Hayatabad police station, and senior superintendent of traffic police.
