PESHAWAR, June 20: The authorities have decided to take action against unfit vehicles and illegal bus and Suzuki stands in different areas of Peshawar division.
Officials said that transporters were directed to install fire extinguishers in their vehicles and remove the additional petrol cans and cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas and compressed natural gas. The owners of private educational institutions were also directed to follow the directives strictly or face legal action, they said.
However, transporters have opposed the decision of removing additional cylinders from their vehicles, saying vehicles with a single cylinder will not be able to reach their destinations.
The decision was taken in the light of the directives issued by Peshawar High Court, an official of Regional Transport Authority told Dawn on Thursday.
He said that Peshawar Commissioner Sahibzada Mohammad Anees had directed transporters to remove the CNG cylinders installed under the seats in their vehicles to avoid any untoward incident.
Besides, the owners of all private schools were directed to ensure fitness of their vehicles and get fitness certificates in that regard, he said.
He added that during a recently held meeting, representatives of various relevant departments presented reports about the situation of public transport and school vans and suggested to issue fresh warning to the people.
The official said that substandard CNG and LPG cylinders in the vehicles had become moving bombs that took many lives of people, especially students in different parts of the country. “Now it has become necessary to take action against them,” he added.
The official said that they had informed the public transport operators and owners of private schools and colleges to get fitness certificates from the office concerned and ensure installation of fire extinguishers in their vehicles.
“We can’t allow anyone to play with the lives of people. We have to take action against those violating the rulers,” the official said, adding that transport and school owners mafias were in the habit of launching protest whenever action was taken against them.
The official said that participants of the meeting expressed concern over installation of gas cylinders under the seats of vehicles and described it dangerous for commuters.
They said that the owners of vehicles plying between Haji Camp Bus Stand and Karkhano Market had installed double cylinders in their vehicles in violation of law.
Opposing the decision, Urban Transport Union president Khan Zaman Afridi said that a vehicle with a single CNG cylinder could not reach its destination. Such a vehicle would have to run on petrol and the transporters would be compelled to raise the fare, he added.
“Administration is not ready to listen to our reservations despite the fact that transporters have held protest demonstrations against the decision,” he said.
Mr Afridi said that transporters could not afford to run vehicles on petrol. They would have to revise the fares but on the other hand government was not ready to issue them revised fare list, he added.
About the maintenance of the vehicles, he said that majority of the vehicles had obtained fitness certificates from the relevant department.
PESHAWAR, June 20: The authorities have decided to take action against unfit vehicles and illegal bus and Suzuki stands in different areas of Peshawar division.
Officials said that transporters were directed to install fire extinguishers in their vehicles and remove the additional petrol cans and cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas and compressed natural gas. The owners of private educational institutions were also directed to follow the directives strictly or face legal action, they said.
However, transporters have opposed the decision of removing additional cylinders from their vehicles, saying vehicles with a single cylinder will not be able to reach their destinations.
The decision was taken in the light of the directives issued by Peshawar High Court, an official of Regional Transport Authority told Dawn on Thursday.
He said that Peshawar Commissioner Sahibzada Mohammad Anees had directed transporters to remove the CNG cylinders installed under the seats in their vehicles to avoid any untoward incident.
Besides, the owners of all private schools were directed to ensure fitness of their vehicles and get fitness certificates in that regard, he said.
He added that during a recently held meeting, representatives of various relevant departments presented reports about the situation of public transport and school vans and suggested to issue fresh warning to the people.
The official said that substandard CNG and LPG cylinders in the vehicles had become moving bombs that took many lives of people, especially students in different parts of the country. “Now it has become necessary to take action against them,” he added.
The official said that they had informed the public transport operators and owners of private schools and colleges to get fitness certificates from the office concerned and ensure installation of fire extinguishers in their vehicles.
“We can’t allow anyone to play with the lives of people. We have to take action against those violating the rulers,” the official said, adding that transport and school owners mafias were in the habit of launching protest whenever action was taken against them.
The official said that participants of the meeting expressed concern over installation of gas cylinders under the seats of vehicles and described it dangerous for commuters.
They said that the owners of vehicles plying between Haji Camp Bus Stand and Karkhano Market had installed double cylinders in their vehicles in violation of law.
Opposing the decision, Urban Transport Union president Khan Zaman Afridi said that a vehicle with a single CNG cylinder could not reach its destination. Such a vehicle would have to run on petrol and the transporters would be compelled to raise the fare, he added.
“Administration is not ready to listen to our reservations despite the fact that transporters have held protest demonstrations against the decision,” he said.
Mr Afridi said that transporters could not afford to run vehicles on petrol. They would have to revise the fares but on the other hand government was not ready to issue them revised fare list, he added.
About the maintenance of the vehicles, he said that majority of the vehicles had obtained fitness certificates from the relevant department.