Sweaty waits: Commuter sunburn in Rawalpindi

The stop at Sadiqabad on Benazir Shaheed Bhutto Road is one of many bus stops without roof.

RAWALPINDI:

The advent of warm weather is putting commuters of the garrison city in a sticky situation, as most bus stands lack sheds and are generally in a state of disrepair.

The commuters have to wait for public transport under the naked heat of the sun. This is particularly problematic on busy routes such as Murree Road. Currently, only about 15 bus stands exist on this busy road, of which almost half are sans sheds while vendors have occupied others.

Manzoor Khan, a vendor at Mareer Chowk, admitted that he had been occupying the shed since two years and no authority ever approached him. When asked why he was occupying a shed meant for commuters, he said that he had no other place to establish his dry-fruit stall.

Commuters expressed serious concerns to The Express Tribune over the unavailability of sheds and urged the city administration to establish new stops with sheds.

Aneesa Khan, a student waiting at the Waris Khan bus stop, said that she had to put up with numerous problems. “On one hand, females have to face unavailability of space in public transport vehicles and on the other, they have to wait long hours at stops without sheds,” she complained.

Muhammad Ayub, a government servant and regular public transport user standing at Sadiqabad bus stop, said, “It is truly unfortunate that the administration has failed to provide shelter at bus stops.”

When contacted, Rawalpindi Commissioner Zahid Saeed said that the civic administration planned to establish new bus stands. He said the Parks and Horticulture Agency (PHA) had already approved the summary of the project.

He put the total cost of PHA project at about Rs50 million, which includes funds for improving parks and roads.

According to him, the new bus stands would be established before June. He also promised to evict occupying vendors from existing sheds “as soon as possible.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2011.