FAISALABAD, June 25: The closure of the Abdullahpur wagon stands on the orders of the LHC caused a great hardship for the commuters and transporters on the second day here on Friday.

The district government and Regional Transport Authority did not make any alternatative arrangements.

Transporters were seen running from pillar to post at the offices of the district government and the RTA. However, all their efforts proved futile as the authorities concerned refused to accede to their requests.

The passengers for Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, Okara, Sahiwal, Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Peshawar, Islamabad, Abbotabad, Murree, Sialkot, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Sargodha, Mianwali, Khushab, Bhakkar andJhelum were the worst-hit..

None of the vehicles was allowed to leave the Abdullahpur wagon stands by the policemen, officials of the district administration and RTA.

Commuters were forced to travel on non-airconditioned buses from the main general bus stand. Exploiting the situation, the conductors charged extra from the passengers.

A group of commuters, including females, blamed the district administration for its failure in making alternative transport arrangements. They said the officials concerned had deliberately wasted one year after the LHC judgment in the case.

They said it was not a matter of few transporters or the owners of wagon stands as the people of a big city required the transport facility round-the-clock.

They demanded that the chief minister and governor should take stock of the situation and direct the officials concerned to resolve the issue amicably.

It was observed that some influential transporters operated their vehicles by parking them at different open places with the alleged connivance of RTA officials and traffic police.

It may be mentioned that the LHC had declared all the wagon stands along the Rakh Branch Canal near Abdullahpur as illegal. While the local police had closed down all the wagon stands on Wednesday night.Armed policemen were seen patrolling the Abdullahpur wagon stands to avoid any untoward incident.