KARACHI, July 12: The air-conditioning units of the majority of the Metro Buses, being plied on city roads under the Karachi Public Transport Society, are not functioning properly for the last many months, causing immense hardships to commuters.

Similarly, cooling units of large CNG buses, imported from China, under the Green Bus Transport Company, are also not functioning properly, which often causes quarrels between the commuters and the operators of these buses.

The commuters complain that the air-conditioning units of the Metro Buses, charging Rs23 as maximum one-way fare for claiming to be AC buses, have not been working properly for the last many months, while the operators of these buses are not paying heed to people's grievance.

"Exchange of hot words between daily commuters and operators has become a routine, as conductors and drivers of these buses argue that it is not their job to get the Acs repaired. They even ask complaining commuters to leave the bus or compromise with the situation," the irate commuters added.

According to them, the phone number mentioned in the Metro Buses for registration of complaints regarding the service and attitude of operators was not attended.

"Conductors and drivers of the Metro Buses even misbehave with commuters, who try to open window panes of the buses for getting fresh air," one commuter complained and demanded of the authorities concerned to take notice of the situation.

No concerned official of the city government's transport department could be contacted for explanation regarding the situation. -PPI