LAHORE, Oct 18: The District Transport Wing of the City District Government of Lahore on Thursday sealed a bus terminal, owned by a known private company, near the Old Bakar Mandi (Babu Sabu) after a polio team complained that its senior officials had been manhandled by the terminal staff for administering anti-polio drops to children.

The bus terminal of Niazi Transpot Company was, however, de-sealed in the evening after the department got a case registered against the terminal officials involved in manhandling the team. The terminal management was also charged with making poor cleanliness arrangements and creating a traffic congestion on the road.

Officials said a polio team was on its routine duty to administer anti-polio drops to the children of up to five years.

“The terminal officials not only misbehaved with the team but also manhandled some of the team members,” Mian Mohsin Rashid, secretary (District Road Transportation Authority) told Dawn.

He said the terminal was de-sealed after its administration submitted a written undertaking that it wouldn’t repeat the same mistake in future.

“This was also done in order to facilitate passengers who were facing problems after the sealing of the bus stand,” the  official clarified.

Meanwhile, the DCO in a statement said the CDGL would continue taking action against those who were not cooperating with the polio teams. “The purpose of sealing and desealing the terminal was to give a stern message to the transporters that they should not hamper the drive,” he added.

Niazi Company’s Managing Director Arshad Khan Niaz rejected the officials’ allegation of beating the polio team.

“The people who manhandled the team were not employees of his company,” he said.

TEAM: A CDGL monitoring team on Thursday visited various parts of Shalimar Town and checked officials’ performance in administering anti-polio drops to the children.

The team led by the DCO and a Unicef representative visited bazaars/markets and sought a feedback from the people. They also administered anti-polio drops to the children on the occasion.