Public transport: Air-conditioned buses inaugurated

Discount cards will be issued after verification of particulars by the education institutes.

BAHAWALPUR:

An air-conditioned bus service was inaugurated in the city on Friday by Prisons Minister Malik Iqbal Channar.

The ceremony held at the Abbasia Campus of the Islamia University of Bahawalpur was attended by Chief Minister’s Adviser and MNA Mian Baleeghur Rehman, IUB Vice-Chancellor Prof Muhammad Mukhtar, MPA Haji Zulfiqar Ali, Bahawalpur Commissioner Muhammad Khan Khitchi, DCO Dr Naeem Rauf and DPO Sohail Habib Tajik.

Channar said students would get a Green Card that would cover all of their bus journeys for Rs60 a month. He said the discount cards would be issued after verification of particulars by the education institutes.

He said a 410 bed district headquarters (DHQ) hospital will be inaugurated in the city in November.

Qing Qi drivers protest

Meanwhile, dozen of motorcycle rickshaw (Qing Qi) drivers staged a demonstration in front of the Tehsil Municipal Administration office to protest the launch of the bus service.

They said the city government had banned Qing Qi rickshaws in Farid Gate area. They protested the decision and said that trips to and from Farid Gate accounted for most of their businesses.

They demanded that the ban be lifted and Qing Qi rickshaws be allowed free movement anywhere in the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2012.