LAHORE, Sept 15: In order to make an easy public access to various bus stations being constructed at the dedicated corridors of the Metro Bus System, the Lahore Transport Company has decided to reorganise its various urban routes in the city.

The LTC administration has also decided to ensure connectivity of its all routes with various interchanges of Lahore Ring Road so that the passengers could reach the city areas after alighting from buses.

“As it is the core objective of the LTC to ensure smooth public mobility through efficient and affordable transport facility in the city, we must start working now to link all of our routes with the MBS and its stations so that the people could reach their destination in a short span of time,” LTC chairman Khwaja Ahmad Hassan said while presiding over a meeting here on Saturday.

He said the LTC administration should evolve a comprehensive mechanism for the development of feeder routes to facilitate the people in reaching other parts of the city.

He said the LTC had also developed connectivity with adjacent cities of Lahore by plying new AC buses on various semi-urban routes such as Lahore to Raiwind, Sheikhupura, Maraka, Kasur and other areas. In addition to old buses the LTC had also succeeded in plying 410 new ones on various routes of the city, he added.

Mr Hassan said as many as 30 urban routes had been made operational in the city through a comprehensive plan of action to provide efficient transport facilities to residential localities within and outside the city areas. He said new buses had also been made operative from Allama Iqbal International Airport to Valencia Town.

He said the LTC would soon launch new bus service from Bahria Town to Shaukat Khanum, Green Town to general bus stand and railway station to Thokar Niaz Beg. He said the LTC was also executing student green card scheme in an effective manner and a special cell had been established to the effect.

He said the LTC had made strenuous efforts for eradication of dengue virus from bus terminals throughout the city by launching a fumigation drive there.

The meeting was attended by LTC Vice Chairman Mehar Ishtiaq, acting Chief Executive Officer Amjad Hussain, GM (Finance) Mariam Khawar, Deputy GM (Operations) Tanweer Siddiqi, Manager (Operations & Planning) Huma Daha and others.

APPROVAL: The governing body of the Lahore Development Authority decided on Saturday to execute a number of projects worth billions in various localities of the city.

In a meeting presided over by District Coordination Officer/LDA Chairman Noorul Amin Mengal, the body accorded approval to carrying out development of infrastructure worth Rs985.95 million on the land being retrieved from encroachers at LDA Avenue-I Housing Scheme on Raiwind Road.

It also gave the go ahead for widening, improvement and carpeting of three-km long service roads worth Rs102 million along Khayaban-i-Firdousy from Shauk Chowk to southern bypass (Johar Town). The other projects approved to be launched by LDA included construction of a bridge worth Rs39.455 million at Sattu Katla Drain near Chandni Chowk (Township) and acquisition of land worth Rs9.32 million for widening and improvement of Multan Road near Sabzazar.

The meeting also decided to implement the Punjab finance department notification regarding special allowance equivalent to 50 per cent of Ph.D allowance for LDA employees on obtaining MS/M.Phil degree.

The body also allowed amalgamation of the additional land measuring 20 kanals and 16 marlas with a private university situated at Khyban-i-Jinnah. However, it will only be used for educational purposes and the administration will have to pay commercialisation fee to LDA.

The meeting also approved the proposal of construction of signal-free junction at Qartaba Chowk, Ferozepur Road, on Engineering Procurement Construction, (EPC) basis.

The meeting was participated by LDA Vice Chairman Amir Asgher Dar, LDA Director General Ahad Khan Cheema and others.

PARKING: District Coordination Officer Noorul Amin Mengal said on Saturday the CDGL would introduce state-of-the-art parking facilities in the city under technical guidance of the Turkish experts.

He was presiding over a meeting on introduction of new car parking system in the city here at Town Hall.

MPA Hafiz Nouman, EDOs (Finance, Works and Services, Planning), Turkish experts and other officers also attended the meeting.

He constituted four special teams to collect data for new car parking stands in the city within one week. “Each team must have representation of civil defence, public facility and Turkish company,” he said, adding that a PC-1 must be prepared after completion of the data collection exercise.