RAHIM YAR KHAN: The district administration has set up a free flour distribution point at the General Bus Stand (GBS) after temporarily suspending its operations since March 30. However, the move has caused issues for passengers and transport owners alike, as only a few people visit the point daily.

Previously, there were two main points for flour distribution in the city: Town Hall (for women only) and Markazi Eidgah (for all eligible people). Without informing the bus owners or the masses, the district administration established the flour point at the GBS, causing transport operators to move to different locations on the bypass road and at Adda Khanpur, creating hurdles in the free flow of traffic.

Passengers now have to pay additional fare to rickshaws to get public transport from different locations, and the GBS closure has deprived porters, cleaners, and makeshift shopkeepers of their daily earnings.

Deputy Commissioner Shakeel Ahmed Bhatti clarified that only bus operators and transporters of the “Qabza Mafia” want to keep possession of the GBS, and that they have their own vested interests in the location.

He added that the administration has established the free flour point because the GBS has not been functional for a long time, and neither buses nor wagons use it.

The proximity of the Nadra and Benazir Income Support Programme offices to the GBS also makes it convenient for people to visit.

However, he did not comment on why the GBS was established with heavy funds or why a former MPA and a former deputy commissioner inaugurated the GBS and handed it over to the municipal corporation.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2023