LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday refrained the Punjab government from distributing motorcycles to students, emphasizing that the government should instead promote electric buses as the provision of buses to educational institutions will help in reducing traffic pressure.
Issuing the order, LHC’s Justice Shahid Karim stated that the provincial government should not distribute motorcycles until a new policy is formulated.
The court also sought a detailed report from the Punjab government on May 13.
The court observed that the initiative of distributing motorbikes to could lead to misuse by male students, noting the vehicles could be used for one-wheeling and female harassment.
Justice Karim voiced concerns about male students potentially congregating outside girls’ colleges and indulging in unruly behaviour if students are provided with these bikes.
The court has also ordered action against those who extract sand from the river with heavy machinery.
Justice Karim has long heard different petitions about how smog could be controlled, society could be made pollution free and groundwater could be protected from wastage.
During proceedings, a Judicial Water & Environment Commission member complained that the crop’s remnants were still being set ablaze.
Another member added that PDMA was providing them with data, however it has not been provided as of late.
The PDMA representative argued that SUPARCO provided them data but now they were also not being provided with the related information.
On a point, a member of the Judicial Water & Environment Commission drew the attention of the court towards motorbikes being distributed amongst the students.
The member said the government had earlier promised to give 10,000 electric bikes, but now this number has been reduced to 1,000 and 19,000 petrol bikes will instead be given to the students.
Expressing potential misuse of bikes, Justice stressed using public transport to ensure the safety of students and aimed to promote a sustainable transport option across the province.
Justice Karim sought a report from the Punjab government about details of bikes by May 13.
