BAHAWALPUR: The Punjab government has denied transport facility to about 5,000 commuters daily, including a large number of students, by suspending services of the Speedo bus between Bahawalpur and Lodhran.
Due to the discontinuation of the service, about Rs22 million have also gone down the drain that were spent on the construction of bus stops along the 30-mile-long route connecting both cities.
A source in the Bahawalpur Development Authority (BDA) told Dawn on the condition of anonymity that 37 big and small bus stops, which were designed and built by a Lahore-based firm and approved by the Shahbaz Sharif government, cost Rs22 million. Out of this, Rs10 million were paid to the contractor, while the remaining was still pending by the BDA. The authority did not have the funds to pay such a huge amount.
Thousands of students from the rural areas of Lodhran, Kahrorepucca and Dunyapur studying in Bahawalpur utilised this bus service on a subsidised one-side fare of Rs30 daily. Their parents have demanded the Punjab government resume the service so the students did not have to pay heavy fares for private transport facilities.
Regional Transport Authority District Secretary Dr Saifullah Bhatti, the additional deputy commissioner headquarters, told Dawn that the Speedo bus service had been launched under an agreement between the Punjab government and a foreign bus company till July. The government had paid arrears to the firm till June, while those amounting to millions of rupees were yet to be paid.
He further said that the district administration has moved the Punjab government for restoration of the bus service to facilitate the common man, especially students from Bahawalpur and Lodhran.
BDA COMPLEX: The BDA would construct its own complex in the city for Rs300 million. This was stated by the authority’s newly appointed chairman, Malik Muhammad Aamir.
The chairman told Dawn that the BDA owned four acres near Cheema Town. So far, it had not taken possession of the land nor built its complex there.
Now, he said, he would make efforts to take over the possession and start initial work on it.
Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2018
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