Inauguration: NATCO makes its first transit in Azad Kashmir

Commuters travel free-of-charge between Mirpur and Muzafarrabad.

MIRPUR:

Delayed thrice, the much-anticipated bus service by the Northern Areas Transport Corporation (Natco) was finally launched on Monday. To put a cherry on top, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Transport Authority Chairman Adil Mahmood Khan announced that commuters will not be charged for the inaugural transit, between Mirpur and Muzafarrabad.

A 42-seater Natco bus carrying 20 passengers left for Muzafarrabad at 4am as per schedule and returned back to Mirpur at 4pm. A duty magistrate and a number of police officials were deputed at different points along the route to ensure security.

Despite reservations of local transporters, the bus service has been issued route permits for three routes: from Mirpur to Chakothi via Muzaffarabad, from Mirpur to Islamabad and from Neelam valley to Islamabad via Muzaffarabad, said Khan, the chairman of the AJK Transport Authority.

“People [in AJK] were being forced to travel on substandard, dated and overloaded vehicles of private transporters for years,” said Mir Fazalur Rehman, a social worker, who lauded the launch of the public-sector Natco bus service.

The transport authority had initially declared that the service will be launched on September 3, but was delayed till September 6, and then again till September 20.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2012.