KARACHI, May 29: The transport operators of inter-city bus service continue to exert pressure on the city government and the police to allow their illegal bus operation from Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Dawn learnt here on Wednesday.
The Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town administration with the help of police removed the encroachment and bus terminus of Quetta-bound buses a week back in front of Shahzob Hotel and Jumani Arcade on University Road, following a decision of the Sindh High Court. There had been public complaints that it was an obstacle to smooth flow of traffic and a constant threat to fatal road accidents. This operation had puzzled the transport operators and they staged a protest by parking their large buses on RCD Highway, sources in the transport department, city government and police said.
The final decision to remove the bus terminus was taken in a meeting held on May 16, and attended by the officials of law enforcement agencies, traffic police and the Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town Nazim.
The provincial government and the city administration had as a matter of policy decided to shift inter-city bus terminus to outskirts.
The transporters had moved the Sindh High Court praying it to direct the respondents not to dispossess them of the present bus terminals ie i) Shahzob near Shahzob Hotel, Old Sabzi Mandi; ii) Jumani Arcade; iii) Lea Market; and iv) Lines Area, Saddar. The petitioner also prayed the court to grant permanent injunction restraining the defendants, their subordinates, employees, not to disturb or stop the petitioners from using the bus terminals being used and under use of the petitioner for long.
The court dismissed the petition in limine filed by the transport operators. A constitutional petition (D-1943) was filed on Dec 13, 1999, by Sindh Airconditioned Bus Owners Association and Sindh-Balochistan AC & Non-AC Bus Owners Association through their Vice President Haji Mohammad Iqbal Hussain Jumani. The respondents were the Sindh Government, Home Secretary, Commissioner Karachi and the DIG Traffic Police.
A division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Mushir Alam, in its order, observed: “From perusal of the memo of the petition as well as the comments filed on behalf of the respondents, it transpires that the petitioners without any permission or authority had made bus terminals at four places mentioned in para-5 of the petition for the purpose of parking their buses for picking and dropping the passengers.”
The court further observed: “From perusal of the material on record, it transpires that such arrangement besides being illegal and without any lawful authority have also resulted in creating traffic problem in the city. It is also to be observed that the petitioners have also violated provisions of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance and furthermore the question of determining or declaring places as bus terminals for picking up and dropping passengers is an issue to be decided in accordance with the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance by the authorities mentioned therein and the petitioners ought to have approached such authorities instead of coming to this Court under Article 199 of the Constitution.”
The court in its order dismissed the petition in limine along with miscellaneous applications stating: “Upon the above discussion, it was found that this constitutional petition was not only misconceived and not maintainable but was also without any substance.”
The city government, with the help of the police, removed the bus terminus accordingly as being illegal. Besides, illegal bathrooms on service road built by Juma Khan, owner of Qadri Coach, a workshop for buses on the same service road, and buses parked for repair, were also removed by the police and the land department.
The sources said the transport operators had staged a demonstration on RCD Highway against the removal of the bus terminus. They demanded that the city government and the police allow them to operate their bus service from Shahzob Hotel and Jumani Arcade. The sources said it was illegal and now in violation of the court order.
The Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town Nazim in his letter to City Nazim Naimatullah Khan narrated removal of encroachment and illegal bus terminus, which resulted in a protest on RCD Highway. He mentioned that due to the blockade on the highway, negotiations were held with transport operators and they were allowed to pick and drop passengers at the Shahzob Hotel and Jumani Arcade after which they had removed their buses from the highway which was opened for traffic.
He also stated that the area residents repeatedly complained about encroachment due to which traffic flow was also disturbed specially during peak hours. He also pointed out the death of a child on May 27, who was hit by Shaheen Coach.
He stated that the operation against encroachment was carried out on public complaints but the transport operators, who blocked the RCD Highway and caused nuisance to travellers, were not booked in an FIR. He asked the City Nazim to issue directives to register a case against the transport operators in this respect.
The area residents complained that although the attempt was made to remove the bus terminus, the bus operators parked their buses in the morning on the pretext of picking and dropping passengers and their buses remained there till evening. This practice of the transport operators had diminished the impact of the removal of the encroachment and illegal bus terminus, they claimed.
The sources said after the court order, the inter-city bus terminus at Lines Area in Saddar and Shidi Village in Lyari would also soon be removed by Lyari and Saddar Towns administrations with the help of the police as they were also declared illegal.
The sources said the city government and the police were holding meetings considering removing not only inter-city illegal bus terminus but all illegal bus terminus of local public transport would also either be taken over by the city government or removed.