Violation of SOPs in public transport goes unchecked

Rawalpindi : The public transport service in twin cities is posing a serious threat to the residents due to non-compliance of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), as social distancing for prevention of coronavirus pandemic is openly violated despite strict warnings by the government.

The government on the condition of strict adoption of all the precautionary measures had allowed the transporters to start the transport system but it is observed that the transporters, drivers and passengers are not fully following the standards operating procedures.

A commuter, Abdul Waheed, told this agency that besides the violation of SOPs, the transporters were also charging them high fares, and the authorities concerned were yet to take actions against the violators.

“The conductors and drivers are not following the SOPs,” Muhammad Nadeem said.

He said sanitizer must be available in each public transport vehicle that will allow people to sanitize their hands.

He said, "No one was observing social distancing in the local transport and the transporters were just concerned about earning money through accommodating huge number of passengers.”

When contacted an official of Rawalpindi Transport Authority (RTA), said that authority along with Police and district administration were conducting raids on daily basis and on non-implementation of SOPs, the authority was imposing fine and vehicles were also being impounded.

Mobile squads were also performing duties at different public transport terminals to facilitate the people, he said.

He has requested the citizens and transporters to ensure co-operation with the district administration so that COVID-19 outbreak may possibly be controlled with the cooperation and support of the general public.