RAWALPINDI: Repair work on the 6th Road Metro bus station was completed, but the Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMA) did not make the bus station functional due to the unavailability of the Punjab caretaker chief minister.

Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi was scheduled to visit the garrison city on Thursday, but in the afternoon, the function to inaugurate the metro bus station was cancelled due to his other commitments in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Sources said that the metro bus station was ready, but people did not benefit from this, as the Punjab Caretaker government will give another date for its inauguration next week, and it will be functional after the inauguration. The Rawalpindi Development Authority spent Rs99 million on the repair of the 6th Road Bus Station.

The 6th Road Metro Bus Station was severely damaged during May 9 riots after the arrest of former premier Imran Khan. Protesters entered the station premises and damaged the station by setting it on fire, resulting in the complete burning of the station.

Due to the closure of the bus station for the last eight months, people suffered a lot as the passengers from 6th Road had to go to Rehmanabad Bus Station and Shamsabad Bus Station to get the bus for Islamabad and Saddar.

Most people faced problems in getting public transportation. The public transport was not available from Murree Road to Islamabad, and they had to hire a taxi and rickshaw to Faizabad, and from there they got a wagon to go to Islamabad or a second option was to go to Rehmanabad and Shamsabad Bus Station to get the metro.

Fayyaz Hussain, at Rehmanabad bus station, said that it was difficult to get the metro bus from Rehmanabad bus station or Chandani Chowk as the metro bus station was suspended for the last eight months.

He said that the government should make it functional if the repair work has been completed. Suhail Ahmed, a commuter, said that he came to Metro bus service, but due to the suspension of the service at 6th Road Station, he had to use Shamsabad Bus Station.

When contacted, Metro Bus Service Acting Manager Operational Mudassar Khan said that the repair work on the bus station had been completed and it would be functional after the formal inauguration. He admitted that the caretaker chief minister was scheduled to inaugurate the bus station on January 18, but the programme was postponed in the afternoon. He said that the next date would be finalised next week.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2024