Speculation is rife that yesterday’s notice demarcating no-parking zones, which mentions safety and security of commuters, could be due to the twin attacks at the Karachi airport
Yesterday’s notice declaring areas near Metro stations as no-parking zones has led to speculation on whether it could be a result of the attacks on the Karachi airport, apart from the usual congestion argument.
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Sunday’s attack on Karachi airport Pakistan’s busiest and largest in which 30 people were killed, was followed by one yesterday when a group of gunmen on motorbikes opened fire at a security academy on the airport premises.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for both the attacks and, while no casualties were reported in yesterday’s attack, airports in India have been on alert.
The no-parking notice bore the signature of Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Quaiser Khalid, and stated that as per the Station Area Management and Inter Model Integration Plan for the safety and security of commuters from Versova to Ghatkopar, areas in a 100-20-m radius around Versova, D N Nagar and Azad Nagar Metro stations have been declared no-parking zones.
When mid-day contacted ACP Khalid, he said, “The notice was issued in order to avoid congestion near Metro stations. If cars are parked below Metro stations, they would cause inconvenience to commuters.” Asked about the security angle, as cars are often used to plant bombs, Khalid tried avoiding the question and said, “The security measures are meant to prevent accidents due to congestion below the Metro station.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Pratap Dighavkar said, “Our first priority is to avoid congestion and traffic near Metro stations and our surveys have revealed that parking near these stations is a major cause. Only in the light of this are we concentrating on the security issue of the stations.”
'Remove reliance Metro boards'
The MMRDA yesterday asked the MMOPL, which runs the Metro, to remove the contentious ‘Reliance Metro’ boards wherever they have been put up. MMRDA Commissioner UPS Madan said, “We have asked the MMOPL to remove the ‘Reliance Metro’ boards from all the places where they have been put up.”
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