01 February 2004	Sunday	09 Zilhaj 1424

LAHORE, Jan 31: Tremendous rush was witnessed on Saturday at all the bus and wagon stands, Lahore Railway Station as people took to various means of transport to reach their native cities and towns to celebrate Eidul Azha.

The government has announced a three-day holiday from Feb 2 for the religious festival and one on Feb 5 as Kashmir Solidarity Day. But a great number of people who have gone to their native places are likely to return to the Punjab capital on next Sunday, enjoying week-long holidays.

The railways began operating 10 special trains in connection with Eidul Azha from Jan 29 to Feb 8 in order to meet the inter-provincial travelling requirement.

A special train left here for Rawalpindi on Saturday morning, which was scheduled to return to Lahore in the evening.

Various bus companies, running on various inter-city routes, increased the frequency of their services to cope with the expected heavy rush of passengers.

The PIA has also been operating extra flights up to Sunday on various domestic destinations to cope with heavy rush as expatriate Pakistanis flew from abroad to celebrate the Eid with their near and dear ones.

The people with their own transport used different roadways, including the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway, to reach their respective destinations.-APP