PESHAWAR, Sept 10: Local transporters observed a strike on Monday against the City District Government’s decision to introduce CNG-run busses.

Transporters’ associations had been urging the city government to take them into confidence in this regard.

A district government official said that the city’s environment was badly polluted by the increase in the number of smoke-emitting vehicles. He said that most busses plying on the inter-city roads were out-dated and improperly maintained, prompting the local government to launch CNG busses in the city to check air pollution.

The district government had recently formulated a policy to introduce CNG busses and an agreement had been signed with contractors to start service with about 80 busses.

Transporters felt threatened after the agreement was signed because they felt that the launching of the CNG busses would affect their business. Supporters of various private transport organisations staged a protest rally against the scheme to launch CNG bus service in the city.

Students appearing in masters’ degrees examination faced severe inconvenience because of the strike. “Despite our meagre finances, we had to hire taxi cabs to reach examination venues,” said two students near the University of Peshawar.

Taxis and rickshaws, however, charged double and triple than the normal fares.

Leader of the Urban Transport Union Jehangir Afridi said that the district government was bent on launching the CNG bus service because it had awarded its contract to its favourite people, and all they wanted to do was to slash their income.

He said that if the plan was implemented, it would affect thousands of diesel-run vehicles.

He claimed that the district government had not taken private transport unions into confidence before finalising the project.

Mr Afridi claimed that after the introduction of the new bus service, passengers would have to pay an average fare between Rs10 and 15 per stop, which he termed was unjust and said the plan would affect the poor people, who barely managed to pay the fares they were charging.

He said the plan envisaged a ban on diesel busses.