KARACHI: People face problems as buses go off the road
KARACHI, May 8: Public transport operators on Monday withdrew their vehicles in protest against government campaign against smoke-emitting and faulty vehicles.
A large number of people, especially office-goers, factory workers and students, were seen waiting at bus stops in the metropolis for buses, mini-buses and coaches.
The Sindh government has decided to take action against faulty and smoke emitting public transport vehicles on the orders of Sindh High Court which asked the government last month to remove these vehicles from the roads within three months.
A school student, Adnan, said he was to appear in Class-VIII examination, but he could not reach on time at the centre. “There are other students who did not reach their schools in time and missed the first paper”, he added.
Many workers could not reach their factories due to transport strike while the attendance at offices was also thin.
An official of SITE Association of Industry said that about 45 per cent factory workers did not turn up on their jobs.
Commuters, mostly women at various bus stops, said this unannounced strike call by the transporters created problems for them.
Meanwhile, Irshad Bukhari of Karachi Transport Ittehad said the government was not providing sufficient time to transports to replace their vehicles with new ones or with CNG-fitted buses.
He alleged that traffic police had started confiscating public transport vehicles from last week while the High Court has given a time-frame of three months for the replacement.
He said that despite appeals traffic police was not releasing their impound vehicles.
An official of Sindh Environment Protection Agency said that most of the public transport vehicles are 40 years old and discharge thick smoke which is hazardous to human health.
He said several centres would be set up in the province to provide a complete lab testing facility at a cost of Rs 30 million for all kinds of vehicles.
More than 1.4 million vehicles, including cars, buses, trucks, rickshaws, mini-buses and wagons, are plying Karachi roads.
At present, about 15,000 public transport vehicles are plying the roads in the metropolis. Most of them are not road-worthy, yet they managed to get fitness certificates.
Meanwhile, Sindh Minister for Transport Mohammed Adil Siddiqi has said that instead of obeying the order of the High Court of Sindh, the striking transporters want to create difficulties for people and they will be strictly dealt with.
In a telephonic talk from London on Monday, the minister vowed that 15 million population of Karachi would not be allowed to be made hostage at the hands of a few.
He ordered the DIG Traffic to take stern action against such transporters who are violating the law.
The mnister directed that maximum number of urban transport and KPTS buses be brought on roads to save people from problems.
Adil Siddiqi said now when development works are fast going on in the city and social and economic activities have fully restored, no conspiracy at this juncture would be allowed to succeed.
He cautioned the people of Karachi to remain careful of anti- Karachi elements.—APP
KARACHI, May 8: Public transport operators on Monday withdrew their vehicles in protest against government campaign against smoke-emitting and faulty vehicles.
