Daily Times

LAHORE: Illegal parking of vehicles under shades of bus stops has snatched shelter facilities from passengers waiting for public transport vehicles.

Due to lack of attention of traffic police, district administration and other departments concerned, citizens are compelled to wait for public transport vehicles under scorching heat at footpaths.

Talking to Daily Times, senior citizens railed against traffic police, district administration and other departments concerned over what they said that the authorities concerned had failed to curb encroachments and illegal parking lots from several main roads, including Main Boulevard Gulberg

They demanded Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Lahore Mayor Mubashir Javaid and Lahore chief traffic officer (CTO) to take action against those responsible for the mess.

Moreover, traffic wardens are also allegedly hindering smooth flow of traffic by stopping vehicles for verifying documents on recently declared signal-free corridor from Qartaba Chowk Jail Road to Liberty Roundabout

Initially, the district administration and traffic police ensured smooth flow of traffic, and registered several FIRs against violators, but now outcome of their performance has raised many eyebrows.

“The Traffic police and the Lahore Parking Company (LPC) are responsible for illegal parking lots on model roads, especially at the premises of bus stops,” said Imran Maqbool, public relations officer to the Lahore mayor. He, however, said that he would talk to departments concerned to resolve the matter at the earliest.

“We are taking action on regular basis against those who are hindering smooth flow of traffic in the city. We have conducted survey of model roads and we are identifying buildings where parking dens don’t exist, said a spokesman for the CTO. He added, “We will take action against such elements in the next few days by taking on board the Lahore Transport Company (LTC), LPC, Traffic Engineering Planning Authority (TEPA) and other officials concerned.”

Several attempts were made to contact the LPC for its comments, but it did not respond to phone repeated phone calls.