No decision could be reached on reopening public transport in Balochistan as transporters gave a 24-hour deadline to the government and threatened to stage sit-ins at bus terminals, reported 24NewsHD on Monday.

In this connection, Liaquat Shahwani – the provincial government spokesperson – said they had not announced any decision to reopen public transport as consultations were underway on the subject. Chief Minister Jam Kamal would make the announcement himself, he added.

Shahwani again stated that the experiment to allow the traders to reopen their businesses didn’t prove successful. Both traders and citizens did not follow the SOPs, he noted.

There has been a blanket ban on inter-district and inter-province as well as local transport for the last two months.

Amid the prevailing confusion, the transporters said they would make their decision if the government failed to reopen public transport by Tuesday.

On the other hand, there were more buses than the passengers at Lorry Ada – the main bus terminal – in Peshawar as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government allowed the transporters to resume their services.

Meanwhile, neither the transporters nor the passengers were in mood to follow the SOPs – wearing masks, use of sanitizers and social distancing – defined by the government.

As far as the transport within the city is concerned, the mini buses and wagons started plying the roads after a two-month-long absence.