The heat in Lahore has been increasing since the start of spring, but April seems to be heading to a very hot place indeed. While the heat makes everything you do a lot more difficult, those who travel in Lahore’s heat, deserve a special reward.
With temperatures already soaring above 35 degrees during peak hours, the Lahore Transport Company (LTC) commuters feel that the lack of AC operations in the buses has increased their daily miseries.
“We are cramped up in the bus. The heat feels double inside the bus than it is outside,” said Shahid, a commuter on the B-1 route.
The LTC buses all over Lahore have not turned on the AC yet even during the hottest hours of the day, when it becomes almost unbearable inside, “They ACs may start by the 15th of April,” a ticket checker told Pakistan Today.
“My grandmother and I were travelling in one of the wagons on canal road and she almost fainted,” Shumaila, a student standing at a bus stop said.
“We had asked all the subsidised routes to start the ACs by the 1st of April,” said Nasir Hussain, LTC PRO while talking to Pakistan Today.
“People need to call the Complaint Centre and complain so that we can start the ACs,” a bus conductor said.
The commuters, however, said that it is not worth the trouble to call the helpline and they will start the ACs only when they feel like it.
“We don’t have the time or the money to waste on the helpline. It’s useless anyway,” said Hameed, a student who travels in LTC.
In a press release the LTC has said that it pays heed to the grievances of people and resolves their complaints. The company received many complaints from academic institutions on the route of B-23, regarding use of pressure horns, irregular bus stops instead of designated stops and rash driving on crowded places particularly during school timings.
The LTC, after receiving the complaints, issued warnings to its operators before taking an action. A special team was constituted under the supervision of a mobile patrolling inspector who held special enforcement checking points from Qainchi to Phatak and challaned 19 buses for not complying with the rules and regulations.
“We are running awareness campaigns and if the people complain we will resolve their issues,” LTC PRO Nasir said.
