Illegal bus terminals threaten environment

The widespread net of unchecked illegal inter-city bus terminals is posing serious threat to environment, besides worsening the already clogged traffic in the metropolis.
Major reason for the rapid mushrooming of these illegal bus terminals in various parts of the city is considered to be the absence of legal bus terminals, while the city government has yet to materialise its plans to undo this haphazard activity.
Rapid growth of illegal inter-city bus terminals has resulted in abnormal rise in buses being operated on the city's main roads on a daily basis. This has further aggravated traffic problems, besides polluting the environment and making roads and footpaths dirty and stinky.
Residents, office-goers, students, and commuters are fretted by these unauthorised and unorganised inter-city bus terminals and desperately demanding of the city government to drive out them from the residential areas forthwith in order to ease the traffic situation.
According to the city government's reports, more than 200 such illegal bus terminals in the city were functioning to provide travel facilities to people of all four provinces as well as to Azad Kashmir.
It has been noted that these bus terminals are set up in line with the localities, population and travel routes as suits the terminals' operators and owners, ie Balochistan and Makran-bound inter-city bus terminals are operated at Lea Market, Lyari and its adjacent localities.
Similarly, Punjab and NWFP-bound inter-city bus terminals are at Karachi Cantt, Banaras Chowk, Taj Medical Complex, Keamari Town, Sohrab Goth, near old Sabzi Mandi, Garden Road and at many other parts of the city. The Interior Sindh-bound inter-city bus terminals are functional at Shahra-e-Liaquat, Lea Market, Karachi Cantt, and other areas.
The city government, however, has a plan to construct three inter-city bus terminals in the outskirts of Karachi. Only one of them so far could be initiated at the Hub River Road for Balochistan-bound buses, and has been completed around 80 percent, but still in doldrums to be made functional.
According to the city government officials, Balochistan-bound illegal bus terminals will be shifted to Hub River Road bus terminals soon after its completion.
Two other proposed projects of bus terminals for Punjab, NWFP and Interior Sindh are in pending and needed to be undertaken without any further delay.
The Punjab and NWFP inter-city bus terminal is planned at National Highway on 15-acre of land and Interior Sindh-bound inter-city bus terminal at Super Highway on 45-acre of land.
All basic facilities will be provided at the inter-city bus terminals, including lodging, hotel, restaurant, telephone booths, and health care, etc to facilitate the travellers, city government officials said.
They were of the view that with completion of three inter-city bus terminals, the existence of illegal inter-city bus terminal could be challenged, saying that driving them out with immediate effect would result in serious travelling problems for people belonging to other provinces.