LAHORE: Blockade of roads for the civil works of Orange Line Metro Train Project has forced a majority owners of public transport to keep their vehicles off the route but motorcycle-rickshaws have come to the rescue of commuters living in localities adjoining Multan Road in particular.

Officials of two transport companies plying buses from the railway station to the southern and south-eastern parts of Lahore told Dawn that the continuation of the service was not feasible both in terms of time and economy.

Owners of vans plying on the route claimed that some 60 per cent vehicles had not been on the route since the road blockade began two months back.

“Initially, we continued plying vans by revising the fares a bit. However, the people did not realize that we have to go extra which requires extra fuel. There were scuffles every now and then between the van staff and commuters. The Lahore Transport Company’s enforcement staff and traffic wardens compounded our misery by imposing fines on commuters’ complaints,” said transporter Malik Farooq.

An LTC official confirmed that no buses were on the route of the Metro Train Project while the number of vans had also decreased to some extent.

“It is not possible to drive a bus on Multan Road, especially from near Ponch House to LOS intersection, from Samanabad Mor to Bhalla Stop, from Yateem Khana Chowk to Sodiwal Quarters, from Multan Chungi to Chenab Mor and so on. The alternative roads are not wide enough and traffic remains stuck up there,” said the official while seeking anonymity.

The fares of motorcycle-rickshaws, the most dangerous but cheapest mode of transportation in many areas of the provincial capital, have also gone up on Multan Road.

“The van people had started charging almost double the fare, between Rs25 and Rs30 for a ride from Samanabad Mor to Scheme Mor. They are charging Rs15 for the same journey. It is affordable but the van fare is not,” said Maqbool who works at a beauty parlor at Iqbal Town.

Interestingly, motorcycle-rickshaw does not exist as a public transport vehicle in the law books of the Punjab government.

However, except for the DHA, Jail Road, The Mall and Canal Bank Road besides some parts of cantonment area, motorcycle-rickshaws continue to carry people from one place to other for 12 to 14 hours a day.

In northern parts of Lahore, tongas had been the only mode of public transportation till late 1990s when noisy and smoke-emitting Qingqi (‘Chand Gari’) started replacing the otherwise calm and pollution-free horse-driven coaches that used to ferry Lahorites, especially schoolchildren, in other parts of the metropolis too.

The motorcycle-rickshaws also speedily took over the place of rehras, the horse-driven goods carriers, in wholesale markets adjacent to Circular Road and the Walled City.

The almost non-existing public transport system in Lahore in the wake of its growing population and lack of interest on the part of the authorities concerned in this regard continued to create more room for the motorcycle-rickshaws.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2016