By Salman Siddiqui/Staff Reporter

Many bus stops in Al Wakrah are without proper shade and this causes much difficulty to commuters, who have to often wait for a long time under the scorching sun.
The bus stops near the Pearl roundabout, and especially those close to the Al Wakrah hospital, have no shade.
A security guard who works on the night shift in a residential complex near the Wakrah hospital faces this problem every day.
“The heat is still bearable in the early morning, until 10am. It’s all right only if you keep moving, like walking towards the bus stop. If I get late at work and end up waiting at the bus stop after 11am, it feels like your body is melting away,” said George, a Nigerian national
The bus stop where commuters like George stand has only a bus-stop pole. At any time of the day, one can see someone trying to align a part of his face to the shade of the pole. “But one can’t even do that at noon, when the sun is directly above your head,” he said.
At another bus stop between the Pearl roundabout and Wakrah hospital, there is a shaded passenger shelter on only one side of the road. Sometimes, passengers wait in the shaded area even if they intend to travel in the opposite direction and quickly, and at times dangerously, cross the road when they spot their bus reaching their stop without the shade.
Many bus commuters have requested the government to look into their problem seriously and direct the authorities concerned to instal properly shaded shelters.
According to the Qatar Statistics Authority, the country’s population stands at more than 2mn as of September 30, of whom 1mn are estimated to be labourers, who are most dependent on public transportation.
Also, while there are roughly a million cars on Qatar’s roads, a large number of people still don’t have or qualify for a driving licence and they, too, are dependent on public transport services such as the bus.
It was recently reported that about 2,000 more public buses are expected to be added on Qatar’s roads by the time the 2022 FIFA World Cup takes place. Commuters like George hope that this would also mean more proper bus stands with shades.