As the colorful festival of Eid-ul-Fitr is inching closer, all the bus terminals and the Railway Station of Lahore can be seen flooded with people these days. Lahore is the second most populated city of Pakistan and it also hosts millions of people from other cities as well because all the major facilities and offices are situated here. According to an estimate, about five million people leave Lahore on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha to celebrate the auspicious days with their families.
The City District Government Lahore (CDGL) has formed eight inspection teams to have a check on the overcharging by the transporters. However, the security arrangements at the major bus terminals of city were extremely poor and passengers lamented the security arrangements while talking to Pakistan Today. Yaqoob Khan, a passenger, who was travelling to Dera Ismail Khan from Lahore’s general bus stand, told Pakistan Today that he is travelling from this terminal for the first time and found that the fares are normal here. On the other hand, he said that there is not a single walk-through gate installed here for thousands of passengers. According to some estimates, more than 50,000 passengers travel from the ‘Lorry Adda’ of Lahore.
There were two complaint camps established at lorry adda to facilitate the passengers. Muhammad Imran, a passenger, came to one of the complaint camps to launch his complaint and said that he was being charged Rs 200 for Faisalabad, while the original fare is Rs 150. He told this scribe that the driver of the bus asked him to leave when he refused to pay more money. The officials of CDGL called the driver and warned him of strict action in case of overcharging in future. Nauman Butt, the officer in charge of the complaint camp, told this scribe that they have received only two complaints of overcharging on Sunday and both of them were addressed on the spot. According to him, the CDGL has given clear instructions to facilitate as many passengers as they can in these days.
The Punjab government has announced four holidays (from Tuesday to Friday) but most of the government employees from far-flung areas have started to leave the city by taking casual leaves from their concerned departments.
Hussain Ahmad, a passenger who was going to Multan from Daewoo terminal Kalma Chowk, told this scribe that he always prefers to travel through Daewoo or Faisal Movers as their service is quite better as compared to other local transport companies. “I went to Niazi Adda before coming here as I did not get seat there,” Ahmad said who was happy after getting a Daewoo ticket. The mass exodus from Lahore will be completed on moon night as people of adjacent cities doing private jobs prefer to travel the last night.
Moreover, the Pakistan Railways has announced to operate ten special trains on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr to cater to the heavy rush of passengers and the booking of special trains has already been completed. The railway station was packed with passengers as most of the people going to far-flung areas choose the service of railways for their journey.
According to the Lahore District Coordination Officer (DCO) Captain (r) Muhammad Usman, a fine of Rs 10,000 has been imposed on the transporters because of overcharging and five coaches have also been impounded in this regard. He told Pakistan Today that the complaint camps have been established on all bus terminals to address the grievances of the passengers.
