No fear among commuters as overloading in buses still goes on

The down in mouth story of overturned bus in Kalar Kahar that claimed lives of 34 innocent children, has not created any fright among people as overloading on buses still goes on right in the federal capital.

After such a tragic mishap people keep on clambering over the buses in the twin cities. Morning scenario is like ants moving on roads. Overloading in public transport has become a tradition due to shortage of public transport on different routes of Rawalpindi and Islamabad particularly on Fridays and Saturdays due to weekly closure of CNG stations.

A large number of employees distinctively students coming from suburbs of the twin cities reach their destinations through private transport and most of the times they have to travel on rooftops of the buses due to shortage of specific route vehicles.

Some of the employees rely on taking lifts from the bike riders or the cars and manage somehow to reach to their work places. Munawar Saleem a clerk in the Blue area said, “We have to pass through intense mental agony and suffer while waiting for Vegan to go back home. This is almost a routine matter that people have to face a lot of hardship while using the public transport. Some years back there was Varan transport system which has given a little bit relief to the residents of the twin cities but that is no more there”.

Students in twin cities are facing severe transport problems, as most of the schools and colleges have no transport facility for their students. Therefore most of the students gamble on public transport. “We use public transport daily; for that we have to wait for the buses in front of our college and suffer a lot while waiting in the scorching heat, Kashif Muhammad said while talking to INFN.

A student, Salman, said the school/college buses ply only on specific routes and he has to use local transport to reach his college. “This is one of the major problems for all those who come from outstation,” he said.

Students complained that majority of local transporters do not stop their buses on stops where they are waiting.

Sana Ali, another student, said particularly girl students have to wait for a long time to find a seat due to which they often reach their college late. She demanded the concerned authorities to provide sufficient buses for colleges, especially women’s colleges.

Families of low-income and labourers have no other option other than public transport. They have to wait for vans and buses for way too long time which at times makes them loose their jobs.

Many people, who come from other cities of the country for hospitalization or to see their relatives and recreational sites, are stunned to know that the capital has worst public transport system.

The commuters demand to the concerned authorities to provide them with better public transports and well developed and new routes which could save their time and to get rid of the difficulties they are facing.