11 April 2004	Sunday	20 Safar 1425

RAWALPINDI, April 10: The district government has issued orders to the local police to ensure implementation of the franchise agreement made with a private transport company, Dawn has learnt.

In a letter, District Nazim Raja Tariq Kiani has directed the local police to take steps for the implementation of the franchise contract as the Varan transport company had completed its fleet of 150 buses.

The franchised routes are 1 (from Islamabad Secretariat to Saddar), route 3 (from Raja Bazaar to Bari Imam), route 6 (from Lal Quarters, Islamabad, to Saddar), route 21 (between Airport- Chaklala to Islamabad Secretariat) and route 24 (from Islamabad to Adiala Road).

In the letter, the private transport company has also been directed to ensure 100 per cent implementation of the agreement.

The people have welcomed the move. They said the drivers and the conductors of the public transport vehicles not only misbehaved with the commuters but also resorted to overloading, changing routes and increasing fares on special occasions.

The public transport owners and the secretary Regional Transport Authority (RTA) have also been directed to comply with the directives. But, surprisingly, the Varan Tours has not been sent the notification.

Varan Chairperson Uzma Gul told Dawn that she was verbally informed that the agreement would be implemented from Monday. "I am totally confused as what to do: whether or not to start the operations from Monday," she said, adding,"I should have been informed before hand in this regard so that I could make preparations."