KARACHI, Dec 6: The illegal bus stands along main Manghopir Road around Banaras Chowk (Bacha Khan Chowk) are a hurdle in traffic flow as the Town Municipal Administration (TMA) SITE Town has failed to stop illegal parking of inter-city buses.

The transport operators park their vehicles on the main road and pick up passengers from the footpath. For this purpose, they set up temporary offices on the footpath. About 40 buses use the main road daily. The pedestrians are left with no option except walk on the main road. Earlier, this exercise was carried out in the morning, now it is also done in the evening, which has further complicated matters. Transporters shifted the buses to a nearby link a road for some time when ordered to do so by the police, but the practice has re-emerged. During peak hours, the inter-city buses create traffic jams.

The transporters when asked why they parked their vehicles illegally told replied such bus stands were also operating in Landhi, Lea market, old Subzi Mandi, Sohrab Goth, Baldia town, and Shirin Jinnah Colony. They asked why should they alone stop this practice.

The transporters demanded that the grounds of the defunct Karachi Transport Corporation (KTC) located on main Manghopir Road (near Habib Bank bus stop) and another on the Banaras-Paposh Road (near Abdullah Girls College) be made into a bus terminal to solve the problem once and for all.