Labourer files petition against unsafe buses
Muhammad Ramzan says road-fitness certificates for most buses and other public transport have long expired.
KARACHI:
A labourer’s complaint against smoke-belching and unsafe buses has been converted into a public-interest petition by former Sindh High Court Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany.
In a two page hand-written complaint, Muhammad Ramzan said that road-fitness certificates for most buses and other public transport have long expired. The owners don’t pay road tax and the buses as poorly maintained.
According to Ramzan, he was a daily-wage worker and had to travel in these buses every day in search of work. “My clothes get torn in these buses as they are seldom repaired,” he said, asking the court to tell the police to act against bus operators.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the Sindh High Court took notice of the complaint and went through a reply from Traffic Zone I DSP Jehangir Mughal who claimed that the city traffic police are doing its utmost and the problem lay with the civic and motor vehicle registration authority.
Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi ordered the Regional Transport Authority secretary “to explain why bus stops have not been assigned under the law”. The bench also put CDGK’s development and construction wing on notice and ordered it to report the number of bus stops. The authority has to explain the rules and regulations which permit people to re-register vehicles more than 15 years old. It also has to explain how they are given route permits.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2011.
A labourer’s complaint against smoke-belching and unsafe buses has been converted into a public-interest petition by former Sindh High Court Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany.
In a two page hand-written complaint, Muhammad Ramzan said that road-fitness certificates for most buses and other public transport have long expired. The owners don’t pay road tax and the buses as poorly maintained.
According to Ramzan, he was a daily-wage worker and had to travel in these buses every day in search of work. “My clothes get torn in these buses as they are seldom repaired,” he said, asking the court to tell the police to act against bus operators.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the Sindh High Court took notice of the complaint and went through a reply from Traffic Zone I DSP Jehangir Mughal who claimed that the city traffic police are doing its utmost and the problem lay with the civic and motor vehicle registration authority.
Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi ordered the Regional Transport Authority secretary “to explain why bus stops have not been assigned under the law”. The bench also put CDGK’s development and construction wing on notice and ordered it to report the number of bus stops. The authority has to explain the rules and regulations which permit people to re-register vehicles more than 15 years old. It also has to explain how they are given route permits.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2011.