‘PTI protest caused Rs145m damage to public property’

6th Road Metro Bus Station was gutted in fire during violent protests, states report

RAWALPINDI:

The damage caused to the public property by the workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on May 9, during violent protests sparked by the arrest of party Chairman Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, has been estimated to be worth more than Rs145 million, according to a report compiled by the Rawalpindi Commissioner’s inspection committee.

The inspection committee’s report has been submitted to the commissioner.

According to the contents of the report, the raging protesters had vandalised public property and set four Metro Bus Stations on fire. The worst hit was the 6th Road Metro Bus Station which was destroyed.

The inspection commission said, in its report, the PTI activists ransacked and set fire to Khatm-e-Nabuwat Metro Bus Station, Faizabad Metro Bus Station, and Committee Chowk Metro Bus Station, which had a severe impact on the systems of these stations.

The demonstrators vandalised valuables and the ticketing machines at these metro stations, the report said. The 6th Road station sustained damage of more than Rs10 million, Khatm-e-Nabuwat station sustained more than Rs1.5 million, Faizabad station more than Rs50 million and Committee Chowk station suffered Rs11.5 million in damage.

Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA)’s Chief Planner Jamshed Afrab was the convener of the inspection committee. Members of the committee included RDA Deputy Director Akram Nadeem, Sanam Siddiqui, Deputy Director Technical Commissioner Office, and Shumaila Mohsin, Manager Operations Metro Bus.

It should be noted that the Metro Bus Service system has been severely hampered due to severe damage to four Metro Bus Stations on Murree Road.

On the other hand, several PTI workers who damaged these Metro Bus Stations were arrested while the police were carrying out search operations to apprehend the fugitives.

The severe damage that the PTI workers inflicted on four Metro Bus Stations has also sparked outrage and resentment among the public.

Citizens have demanded the district administration and police take strict action against individuals responsible for vandalising the Metro Bus Stations so that vandals would not be bold enough to harm public property in the future.

Earlier on Saturday, citizens had breathed a sigh of relief as Metro Bus Service, a bus rapid transit system operating in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, was restored after remaining suspended for four days in the wake of the violent protests in the twin cities.

More than 160,000 people travel in metro buses between the twin cities daily. The metro bus facility is a big relief for the working class, labourers, students, public servants and private employees who daily commute in Metro buses.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2023.