Indo-Pak bus sees passenger drop

NEW DELHI: Terror attacks in Mumbai have had a fallout on the popular Delhi-Lahore bus service with the numbers dropping from both sides amid fresh tension in
Indo-Pak relations.

There has been a dip in the number of travellers for the Delhi-Lahore bus service, with nearly half of the seats lying vacant in the buses coming from Lahore.
    

Having a total capacity of 42 seats, only 25 passengers travelled from Lahore to Delhi yesterday while the number of arrivals was only 20 on Tuesday, sources in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) said.
    
The bus service, called as Sada-e-Sarhad (Call of the Border), was launched in February 19, 1999 with the then Prime Minister A B Vajpayee travelling to Lahore on its inaugural run.

Officials point out that the drop in numbers may also be because of the Muslim festival of Id-ul-Zuha which is being celebrated on December nine.
    
Meanwhile, several passengers who have availed the bus service feel the relations between the two countries would normalise soon.
    
Junaid Saleem, a student of Lahore University of Management who came to India under an academic exchange programme with IIM Bangalore, said he is shocked over the
recent terror attack in Mumbai as it was an act against humanity.