By Ramesh Mathew
Residents and operators of various establishments in the Industrial Area have sought the launch of direct public transport bus services to Hamad International Area (HIA).
Speaking to Gulf Times over the last few days, many residents of the Industrial Area – which is home thousands of expatriates - said there was a growing demand for direct buses to the new airport.
They said the distance to the new airport is more than what it used to be earlier, due to which travellers from the Industrial Area are forced to spend on taxi fares to reach the place.
“As we cannot afford to bear such high taxi fares, we plead with the authorities to introduce direct bus services to the airport from the Al Attiyah Market area. The buses could run at one-hour intervals in the morning and 30-minute intervals in the afternoon,” said a resident.
At present, Mowasalat provides a service (787X) from Doha Bus Station for Industrial Area passengers coming from the airport late in the evening. “The service, which is available only in the evening, is far from enough to meet the growing requirements of our passengers,” said a resident of Street 38.
Workers in some of the establishments said most of their colleagues share taxis to reach HIA as the airport is quite far for Industrial Area residents.
One of them said now that there is a direct road link from the Industrial Area to the new airport through Al Wakrah and Mesaimeer, buses to HIA could be operated through
either of the two routes.
Meanwhile, some commuters reminded the authorities that the patronage of public transport buses from the Industrial Area has always been good, stressing that services to the new airport would also see a good response from people living and working in the area.
A resident said the transport operators should also explore the possibility of running buses to the airport from the Grand Mall locality so that those staying on the eastern side of the Industrial Area could also avail of their services.
Humid conditions from this evening
Humid weather conditions are likely to set in starting from today as a shift is expected in the direction of winds to northeasterly, especially late in the evening and then in the early hours tomorrow, the Met office has said.
The weatherman has also forecast the chances of dusty winds across the country, reducing visibility in the affected areas.
On account of the changes in the wind direction, the forecasters expect a fall in temperature for a while as compared to the last few days. However, the temperature is expected to return to higher levels by Wednesday and the conditions will remain so until the end of the week.
The Met office also foresees the chances of rising seawaters late tonight and also throughout tomorrow. This will be experienced more severely on the eastern side of the Qatar peninsula.
The winds will blow in a northwesterly direction and get stronger next week. The Met office has forecast stronger waves in the offshore areas.
