LAHORE: The Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA) partially resumed on Saturday the operation of Lahore Metro Bus and Speedo Bus Service on Saturday after three days after security clearance on major roads in Lahore.

The metro bus operation was halted on Wednesday after protests in several parts of Lahore. Initially, the bus has been resumed from Gajjumata to MAO College and vise-a-versa.

“We cannot go towards the last station — Shahdara -- due to the protest of a religious group nearby Data Darbar and Bhati Gate,” PMTA General Manager Syed Uzair Shah told Dawn.

“Though, we spoke to the protesters to leave the area to resume the bus operation but in vain,” he added.

“In the last four days, we faced a revenue loss of at least Rs10 million while thousands of passengers faced problems to reach their destinations,” he explained.

The Speedo Bus also resumed operation on most of the routes. “Only the routes that pass by Data Darbar and Bhatti gate are closed due to protests there,” he said, adding that there was no issue with the metro bus operation in Multan. In Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro bus operation, the PMTA faced problems in the last three days.

Like the bus operation, the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) also resumed its cleanliness operation on Saturday after three days.

“We have resumed the operation, pledging to launch a zero-waste drive. Operation staff’s day off on Sunday has also been cancelled,” said a spokesman for the company in a press release.

The zero-waste operation would be completed by Monday. The LWMC lifts nearly 6,000 to 7,000 tonnes of waste daily from the city.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2018