August 11, 2003	Monday	Jumadi-us-Sani 12, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, Aug 10: Illegal bus terminals are again sprouting up in the capital especially at Faizabad under the very nose of the directorate concerned of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

Sources in the Authority told Dawn on Sunday that recently an inter-city bus terminal known as Jalal Adda had been set up at Faizabad in connivance with the directorate of municipal administration (DMA). The terminal had been established in violation of the rules and regulations, as no official requirement necessary for setting up of a bus terminal had been met by the owner.

Similarly, Afridi wagon terminal near Pir Wadhai is reportedly being run despite the lapse of the contract. The sources said the contract was valid for two years and it had expired in February 2003 but the owner of the stand was reluctant to either pay the contract amount to the Authority or close the stand.

The owner of the wagon stand is of the view that the CDA itself has violated the agreement and allowed other people to set up bus and wagon terminals in the vicinity of Pir Wadhai. “These bus and wagon terminals have impacted on my business that is why I cannot pay the contract amount to the CDA,” he said.

An official of the CDA told this reporter that he had called the owner of the bus terminal asking him to pay whatever he wanted to under the contract. “Though, he cannot pay the actual amount of the contract, the loss and income of the stand would be evaluated and then he would be asked to pay the amount, which would be agreeable to both sides,” the official said.