"It was the responsibility of the district government to make sure that such an important facility is not shut down suddenly," Aslam Deswali, a Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce representative. PHOTO: FILE
The regional bureaucratic headquarters, Shahbaz Building, was under a temporary siege on Friday when transporters lined up over a hundred buses, vans and other transport vehicles outside its entrances.
The move came as a bid to exact permission for the use of a land as a bus stand from where they were evicted few days ago to ensure the Central Jail’s security. The protest ended only when they were temporarily allowed to use the same Hala Naka road for the transport service until an alternate terminal can be arranged.
“The district administration and police forced us out of the bus stand without even bothering to provide us an alternate bus stand,” shouted Zeb Buriro, leader of the Sindh Transport Owners Ittehad, who led the protesters.
The land, approximately 10 acres, borders the prison, which houses some of the most wanted and condemned prisoners belonging to various banned outfits. It has remained a tripartite dispute among the prison police, Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC) and the transporters. The HMC had officially allowed the transporters to use the land as a stand around a decade ago.
The transporters maintain that the Sindh High Court, which is hearing separate petitions of transporters and HMC regarding the land, had also stayed any action till March 11. They also complained that the government even disregarded the common people while removing the bus stand. “Around 4,000 vehicles use the stand and carry the passengers across all parts of Sindh,” said Aslam Deswali, a representative of the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce.
According to him, though the transporters are unwilling to give up the stand, they at least asked the government to provide them an alternate piece of land along with the facilities to set up a bus terminal.
Later, a delegation of the transporters met the deputy commissioner Nawaz Soho at his office. According to Deswali, the DC allowed them to use the road along the bus stop until a new terminal at Hatri Bypass can be established. The DC was not available for comment.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2014.
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