Public transport in disarray

LAHORE
People, who are the biggest beneficiaries of public transport, especially the Metro Bus Service (MBS), sabotaged the public transport system for the second consecutive day.
The MBS authority was reluctant to start its operations. Their confusion, however, was soon solved by the protestors who once again took to the MBS channel and blocked it. The public transport other than the MBS too was in disarray.
Ten bus routes had to be completely or partly suspended due to the danger posted to the commuters and the buses at the hands of the angry mob. Route B12 (Railway Station to Yohanabad) and B12A (Azadi Chowk to RA Bazaar) was forced shut due to protest demonstrations at the starting and ending points of the route. Route B1 (RA Bazaar to Secretariat), B12A (Azadi Chowk to RA Bazaar), B2 (General Bus Stand to Maraka), B8 (General Bus Stand to Airport), B22 (Jallo Morr to Thokar Niaz Beg), B28 (Airport to Valencia Roundabout) and B41 (Railway Station to Liaqat Abad) were all disrupted.
The Christian community living in Yohanabad is the main user of the MBS. The low-cost transport subsidised further by the government is used by a majority of the Christian working class to commute to their workplaces.
Four out of the ten routes had to shut down operations while the other six had to operate with alternate routes created through diversions. The number of buses on each route was reduced as well and the operators had to work with half or less than half of their total fleet. First Bus, Pakoz, Pakor, and Platform were the operators whose routes were disrupted. Talking to this correspondent, almost all operators said that they had faced situations in the past where mobs viewed burning buses as the easiest attention seeking tactic. They said that they know that they were bound by law to operate but they could not jeopardise the safety of their staff and the commuters.
The commuters had to face a troubled Monday getting to and back from work because of the state of affairs created by the protestors. The traffic in the city too was a mess due to the diversions which added traffic flux to different roads and channels.
A spokesperson for the Lahore Transport Company said that public transport was most important for the functioning of a metropolis but it could not be operated at a cost of highly probable damage to life and property. He said that the company was trying to provide maximum facilities to civilians by operating the maximum possible buses wherever possible.