Suo motu notice: Court orders closure of illegal bus stands, parking spaces

Directs government to issue notices to all plazas which do not have car parks.


Our Correspondent September 25, 2013
The two-member bench also instructed a large-scale operation be conducted against illegal vehicles in the city. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD JAVAID

PESHAWAR:


The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday directed the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to shut down all illegal bus stands in the city and issue notices to plazas without car parks.


A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan issued these instructions while hearing a suo motu notice on illegal bus stands in the city.

The court ordered the government to remove all impediments in the smooth flow of traffic. It also directed the government to constitute a task force – which will include representatives of the provincial transport authority, district commissioner, traffic police and local government   – to ban all rusty vehicles plying the roads.



The district government was further ordered to issue notices to all buildings which do not have car parks to construct them or they would be fined and later sealed.

Transport Secretary Khalid Khan Umerzai informed the bench that upon the court’s directives they had banned 400 vehicles and cancelled their permits along with shutting down dozens of illegal bus stands.

“We are conducting a massive operation against illegal bus stands, however, there are still over 20 stands in areas which fall under the cantonment board,” said Umerzai.

Looking for long-term solutions 

Umerzai told the bench national and international organisations had approached the government to start a mass transit system and a feasibility report is being made for the project. “The transit system would either be on the pattern of the Punjab Metro Bus or a train system to reduce traffic congestion,” he said.

“We do not have enough traffic constables to manage the increasing number of vehicles. Massive traffic congestion is caused by the vehicles parked outside plazas which do not have parking spaces,” explained Peshawar Commissioner Sahibzada Muhammad Anees. “However, we are in the process of chalking out a comprehensive plan to overcome this issue.”

CCPO Muhammad Ali Babakhel informed the bench that the government had begun some projects on an experimental basis from Pir Zakori Bridge to Arbab Sikandar Khal flyover and identified six places where traffic jams are common, mostly around illegal bus stands. “Whenever the police launch an operation against these buildings their owners obtain stay orders from courts,” said Babakhel.

Upon hearing the officers’ statements, the bench remarked congestion on main roads can be reduced by a train transit system and constructing a railway track near Ring Road.

The bench further instructed the government to hire the services of motorway instructors to train traffic constables in regulating traffic.

“The cantonment board should consult the traffic police before issuing licences to any bus stand,” said CJ Khan. “The board should also thoroughly check all licences it has issued so far and if any were issued without following the legal requirements then they should be suspended immediately.”

The two-member bench also instructed a large-scale operation be conducted against illegal vehicles in the city, while the traffic police and other relevant departments were told to form a comprehensive policy regarding crackdown against encroachments.

On September 10, the PHC summoned various officials after it took suo motu notice of illegal transport stands situated along various roads in the city, stating the transport mafia had generated millions of rupees through such unlawful constructions.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2013.

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