Muhammad Ruman Khan, who works in the Civil Secretariat Lahore and comes from Mianwali, faces a challenging situation every weekend. Every Friday evening, he goes to his hometown and returns to Lahore on Sunday evening. He shares that for the last two years, he has been experiencing severe hardships at the bus stand in Mianwali. The bus stand lacks a waiting room, leaving people waiting for their buses on the road in extreme heat and cold.

Shafiq Ahmed is associated with the clothing business. His in-laws belong to Sargodha, and he often takes a bus from this bus stand to visit them with his wife and children.

He says that travelling with his wife and children becomes more problematic because there is no place to sit at this bus stand, shade, or toilet facility.

During the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) regime, several development projects were started in Mianwali, including the reconstruction project of the Larry Adda. The project began with a cost of Rs 27.4 million and included the construction of a bus terminal, toilet block, and passenger hall.

The reconstruction process was supposed to be completed in March 2023. However, after the caretaker government came, the fund was not released for it. As a result, the contractor had to stop the work.

Now, the structure of the new bus stand building is ready. During construction, all the bus terminal services were shifted to the service road, where many passengers board and leave the buses.

The transfer of the terminal to the road has also worsened sanitation. Ahmed Jamal Khan, who has been coming to Isa Khel for work for the last ten years, says that due to the construction of a bus stand on the road, piles of dirt have been created, making it impossible to stand there for a while.

Faiz Shabbir, SDO Building Department, posted in Mianwali, says that they are building a state-of-the-art lorry shelter at this place. The shelter will add to the city’s beauty and provide facilities to the passengers.

He says that out of the 27.4 million rupees allocated for the project, only about ten crore rupees have been released.

“Unfortunately, the funds were stopped after the change of government; otherwise, the project would have been completed in March 2023. We are trying to complete it as soon as the funds become available since thousands of commuters suffer daily.”

Faisal Khan, the Manager of Niazi Express Mianwali, tells LokSujag that his business has been severely affected by the delay in the completion of the Larry Adda. Due to the lack of adequate seating space, the number of passengers on daytime buses has reduced to less than half.

“We are forced to run fewer buses now. Before the transfer to the road, the buses used to leave the bus stand every hour, but now it leaves every three hours. Even then, the rides are barely completed on time.”

Apart from the transporters, the employment of hundreds of city residents is also linked to this bus stand. Khuda Bakhsh, the owner of a famous tea shop, is one among them. He told Lok Sujag that he has been running a tea shop in Larry Adda for 35 years.

Due to the excavation for the reconstruction of the bus stand, there have been piles of dirt everywhere, which makes it difficult for people to reach our shop by vehicle. Now, people can only come to our shop on foot. Previously, the place used to be overcrowded, but now very few people come here to drink tea.

Attaullah Khan, the government contractor at the Larry Adda, said that almost half of the project has been completed. Now the work has stopped due to the withholding of funds by the government. The bus stand’s primary structure and sewerage system have been completed, while passenger quarters and toilet blocks are still under construction.

He says the project will be completed in six months if the funds are released.