Karachi:Illegal bus terminals in different parts of the megacity are the main source of traffic jams, but the administration is dragging feet to shift them from residential and commercial areas to designated bus terminals.
Dozens of illegal intra-city bus terminals ae operating in the city, mostly in busy Saddar area and they are creating massive traffic jams, but the traffic police, transport department and district administration are not taking any action against them.
A big illegal intra-city us terminal in Taj Complex Saddar area is a glaring example of the impunity being enjoyed by the transporters to run their illegal bus terminals in the residential areas of Karachi; however, the Sindh government has so far failed to remove this illegal bus terminal to the government intra-city bus terminal along M-9 near Suhrab Goth, which has been functional for last several years.
The illegal bus terminal at Taj Complex Saddar is a nuisance for residents of this area and permanent source of traffic jams in whole locality. Hundreds of buses and coaches are present in this area at any hour of the day, creating a big mess and crippling traffic jams.
Government has already set up a spacious bus terminal near Suhrab Goth along the M-9 Motorway with the sole purpose to shift illegal intra-city bus terminals from Saddar and surrounding areas with a cost of millions of rupees spent from taxpayers’ money, but the government has still failed to remove illegal bus terminal of Saddar, which indicates towards the corrupt and dysfunctional bureaucracy of transport department and other related agencies. Sources say to remove this illegal bus terminal is not a big deal and deputy commissioner can do so, if there is a real will. They said the bureaucracy does not want to shift this illegal bus stand from Saddar because it is a lucrative source of ‘bhatta’.
This illegal bus terminal in the center of the megacity, Karachi, is a big question mark on the level and quality of governance and administration. When such glaring examples of inefficiency are so visible in busiest areas like Saddar, it becomes easier for the opponents of the PPP government in Sindh to talk about federal directives and interventions to tell the provincial government how to run its affairs efficiently.
Chairman of ruling provincial party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Sindh transport minister Owais Shah, Sindh local government minister Nasir Shah, chief secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah, Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shallwani, and DIG traffic Javed Ali Meher should personally take notice of this serious issue and ensure shifting of this illegal intra-city bus terminal from Taj Complex and surrounding streets of Saddar Karachi to legal intra-city bus terminal of Suhrab Goth along M-9 motorway at the earliest. This would not only give a respectable look to Saddar, bus also end crippling traffic jams in area, besides improving the governance image of the provincial government of Sindh and the ruling party, Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP).