Idle Peshawar BRT corridors turned into stunt area by youngsters

Locals urge district administration, law enforces to deploy security at the corridor

PESHAWAR: Even as the provincial government inches closer to completing corridors for the mass transit project being built in the provincial capital, some unguarded but completed sections of the corridor have turned into a playground for the youth.

With an elevated section of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project having been completed near Chamkani recently, youngsters on Sunday used it as a track for performing stunts on their vehicles.

Part of reach-I of the project, the provincial government had cordoned off the corridor by placing an iron fence around it.

However, parts of the fence have been damaged with some of the rods in the fence uprooted, creating a space for people to access the corridor dedicated to the buses of the BRT.

Now, motorbike and bicycle riders can be seen using this freshly-metaled corridor as their personal race and stunt track.

Motorbike and bicycle riders practice one-wheeling and even hold competitions. The spot around the Gulbahar Station of the corridor witnesses these daredevils almost every day. But on Sunday’s the spot presents the sight of a carnival with a large number of stunt riders, enthusiasts and fans thronging the corridor route.

Videos and pictures of some of the stunts at the corridor site have gone viral on social media websites and platforms.

Further, the Reach-I corridor at Chamkani is openly used by some transporters with the civic body apparently content to turn a blind eye to the unintended use of the corridor

A Gulbahar area resident complained that some drug addicts had been seen uprooting the iron rods from fences after sunset, claiming that iron fence parts worth a substantial sum has been either damaged or has been uprooted and sold for scrap and the district administration seems content on installing new fences instead of stopping the theft.

Moreover, they lamented that the authorities seem to have turned a blind-eye towards youngsters performing one-wheeling in the corridor.

The residents said that the BRT corridor was being used by other motorists which were causing its wear and tear even before its inauguration.

Subsequently, the residents demanded that Local Government Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai protect the public money by deploying security for the completed parts of the BRT corridor and further requested the government to stop one-wheeling activities.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2019.