LAHORE, July 29: The City District Government Lahore’s ghost bus stand on Bund Road has became fully functional suddenly after the closure of five private bus stands by it.

Only an average 30 buses were plying from the CDG bus stand till Wednesday despite being spread over 26 kanals against four to 10 kanals areas of private stands due to poor marketing. The number increased to 170 following the closure of private bus stands on Thursday and exceeded 200 on Friday and is expected to increase further with the passage of time because transporters are left with no alternative except for operating their buses from it.

Both the CDGL and transporters have benefitted from the closure of the private bus stands. The CDGL income has increased manifold due to sudden increase in the number of buses operating from its bus stand while transporters shifting their buses to its stand are paying only three single fares per trip instead of 10 per cent of the price of tickets sold.

The CDGL, which was considering the Bund Road bus stand a liability and had invited the private sector to take over its operation following failure to attract sufficient number of buses to it, has taken advantage of the legal blunder of violation of the prescribed terms and conditions committed by the private bus stand owners for making its stand operational.

It closed down the private bus stands and impounded 40 buses on the grounds that the owners were violating the terms and conditions by operating buses of other transporters on commission instead of operating their own buses. The buses plying from the private bus stands could not operate from there as these had route permits to operate from the general bus stand. And last but not the least the District Regional Transport Authority had not renewed the licences of the private bus stands for the past two years and all these were operating illegally.

Niazi Express stand owner Azam Khan Niazi described the closure of the bus stand as an act of political victimisation. He said that his uncle Shoaib Khan Niazi belonged to the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and was contesting election for Union Council No.92 Nazim. The government had closed down the bus stand after he refused to join the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam). City District Government Caretaker District Coordination Officer Khalid Sultan, however, justified the action and said that the bus stands had been wound up in accordance with the law because these were operating illegally.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday afternoon, the DCO, who is also the ex-officio chairman of the District Regional Transport Authority, said that the authority had not renewed the licences of the owners for the past two years for a violation of rules but they were continuing operation of buses despite issuance of notices.

He said that the bus stand owners could operate only their own buses from the stands but all of them were operating private buses from there on commission except one, which had not been closed down. Moreover, all the buses operating from the closed down bus stands had route permits for operation from the general bus stand and not the private bus stands and could not operate from there.

He said all the closed down stands were plying far more buses than capacity and creating serious traffic problems on Bund Road by parking buses there. He said that the CDGL had not closed down the bus stands in the past as it would have created difficulties for the travelling public. It had first developed its own 32 kanal bus stand with all necessary facilities on Bund Road at a cost of over Rs20 million to provide an alternative to passengers and transporters and then closed down the private bus stands.

Responding to a question in respect of allegations of political victimisation levelled by one of the bus stand owners, he said that all legal formalities had been met before proceeding against them. Their licences were not renewed for the past two years for violation of rules and each of them was issued three notices before closure. He said that private bus stand owners were still free to operate their own buses from there.

Meanwhile, Data Ganj Bakhsh Town’s former nazim Tariq Sana Bajwa has said Niazi Express bus stand owners were trying to politicize the lawful closure of their stand for political mileage.

He said at a press conference at the Lahore Press Club here on Friday evening stand owner Azam Niazi had alleged political victimization on the ground that his uncle Shoaib Niazi, who was contesting election for the office of nazim of union council 92, belonged to the PML-N and had refused to join the ruling PML.

He said the bus stand had been closed for violation of terms and conditions and not on political grounds. Moreover four other stands had also been closed down despite the fact that the owners were not contesting the local government elections.

He said the PML believed in the rule of law and winning the election by public support instead of foul play. The PML had contested election against Shoaib Niazi in 2001. Chaudhry Wasim and Asad Qazzafi were contesting election against Mr Niazi once again, he added.

Azam Niazi had tried to use the closure of their bus stand to malign the position of the PML candidates, Mr Bajwa claimed.