KARACHI, March 15: The second biggest bus terminus of the city is emerging in Chawkiwara area, after the one at Lea Market, where all sorts of violations of traffic rules by the operators of upcountry transport can be witnessed. The ultimate sufferers are the people of Lyari Town who experience immense hardship and inconvenience as a routine.

According to the residents, the upcountry transporters usually park their vehicles in the middle of the road, not only blocking the traffic flow, but leaving hardly any space for pedestrians to pass through.

They criticized municipal and traffic officials for not taking any action against these transporters, occupying all thoroughfares, besides government-owned land, hospitals, schools and other buildings in Chawkiwara.

A survey shows that the transport operators have set up their booking offices along the main Chawkiwara road and all of them would park their vehicles in front of their respective booking office. This results in closure of the road and blockade of side streets for other vehicles and pedestrians. The situation turns worst in the evening when upcountry buses move in or go out of the city.

Area people allege that police do not take action against them because they work in collusion with the ‘transport mafia’, which has become so powerful that it now controls all the link roads approaching Chawkiwara.

The local residents maintain that the whole area of Chawkiwara has virtually been converted into a huge bus terminus where the transport mafia reigns supreme.

They pointed out that Lea Market had already become the city’s biggest terminus for upcountry buses where a large number of buses and minibuses of local, inter-city and inter-provincial routes, either start or end their journey. In addition, a number of buses and mini-buses make their intermediate stops here.

This is the reason that Lea Market has become the city’s most congested area.

The residents observed that the situation in Chawkiwara was now turning from bad to worse in Chawkiwara with the rapid increase in the number of upcountry transport means converging on it.

According to them, all the lands previously without any construction were open for parking purposes but now buildings were standing on them. In this situation, the transport operators have switched over to roads and arteries to use them as alternative parking areas.