RAWALPINDI: The Pirwadhai general bus stand has become a bone of contention between the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) and the Punjab government with the latter eying control of the lucrative property.

The general bus stand spreads over 207 kanals and has 36 bays, two petrol filling stations, 800 shops, four hotels, one canteen, two bank branches, a police checkpost and a post office.

The bus stand was constructed in the late 1970s on the directives of then prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to cater to the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The RMC purchased the land and managed it till 2006.

In 2006, the provincial government divided the bus stand between the then city district government and the Rawal Town Municipal Administration.

The city government was made responsible for collecting the entry fee while the rent of 800 shops, four hotels, two petrol filling stations and the wagon stands went to the TMA till 2015.

After the formation of the new local government in 2016, the district administration handed over the bus stand along with the authority to collect the rent of shops, hotels etc., back to the RMC. But soon after coming to power this year, the PTI-led government in Punjab started trying to get possession of the lucrative bus stand from the RMC.

The RMC has a majority of PML-N members and Rawalpindi Mayor Sardar Naseem also belongs to the opposition party.

On Friday, Punjab Minister for Transport Jehanzeb Khan Kitchi directed the deputy commissioner of Rawalpindi to send him proposals to change the status of the Pirwadhai general bus stand from ‘C’ to ‘B’ category so that the provincial government could get possession of the bus stand.

He issued the direction at a meeting held at the commissioner office to review arrangements in the general bus stand.

The minister visited the bus stand on Thursday night.

Basically, the visit was aimed at inspecting the site for setting up a shelter home for the homeless people.

However, the provincial government cannot start any such work without the permission from the civic body.

A senior official of the RMC requesting not to be named told Dawn that the provincial government wanted to get possession of the bus stand, which was the major source of income for the civic body.

“RMC is earning Rs80 million from rent and entry fee of buses and if it loses its major earning source it would face problems in paying Rs300 million per year to its 2,000 pensioners and salaries to its 300 employees.”

He said there were four sources through which the RMC generated revenues: the Pirwadhai bus stand, a slaughterhouse, building plan and commercialisation fees. “Its share in the property tax comes through the provincial government,” he explained.

The official said the RMC had purchased the land for the bus stand through its own resources in the late 70s from private landholders to shift the bus stand from Liaquat Bagh to Pirwadhai.

“All the record is available with the RMC and it would be presented to the government if it wanted. The land revenue department also has the record,” he said.

When contacted, PML-N city chapter general secretary and former MNA Haji Pervaiz said the RMC owned the land and had been managing the bus terminal for over 30 years. It would be difficult for the Punjab government to get possession of it, he added.

Mr Pervaiz said the PTI government was being run by an immature team who did not know legal positions of departments.

“The PTI government is busy in political victimisation as it knows that the PML-N has a majority in the RMC. It wants to make the RMC cash-starved so that it could always seek financial help from the provincial government.” He said the PML-N union council chairmen would resist the proposal.

Meanwhile, during his visit to the bus stand the minister examined the implementation of the standard operating procedure (SOP) chalked out by the provincial government to ensure foolproof security measures, cleanliness and proper facilitation for the travellers.

The minister expressed displeasure over unhygienic conditions and inadequate sanitary arrangements at the bus stand and asked the concerned officers to adopt every possible step to strictly implement the SOP.

Mr Kitchi warned that a crackdown would be launched against all illegal transport stands in the province and encroachments.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2018