Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Transporters of twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have kept their tradition alive as they increased the intercity fares on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha in the wake of heavy rush of passengers at terminals; while, the residents of Islamabad are forced to pay high fares to reach their native towns.

The Islamabad is considered as the city of aliens as most of the people living in federal capital are originally belonging to different parts of the country. They are settled here just due to their government jobs and other professional commitments. The transporters always turn Eids hassle as an opportunity to mint maximum money no worry at the cost of people’s miseries.

Although, it is a tough job to seek a seat on intercity buses before every long weekends, but it become more difficult on the eve of Eids as everybody wants to spent these festivals with their families and to reach their homes as early as possible.

On this Eid, the “transport mafia” is once again active to earn full benefits and they have increased the intercity fares up to 200 per cent by their own; whereas, the District Administration has been failed to restrict transporters from charging excessively.

A student of International Islamic University Islamabad Yasir Mehmood desired to reach home in district Jhang as soon as possible to spend few days before and to celebrate Eid with his family. For this purpose, he is ready to pay any price.

Yasir informed the Daily Times, “I missed my train and now I am forced to pay almost double fare for my destination as in routine I pay between Rs 600 to Rs 800 while currently they are charging around Rs 1500”.

A government employee Kashif Iqbal while sharing his experience said, “Getting the ticket of train or a luxury bus is quite difficult on Eid as some people are involved in blacking the tickets. On last Eid I paid Rs 2500 instead of routine fare of Rs 1100 as I purchased the ticket on the spot.

The Islamabad District Administration claims that it has a keen observation on the matter and they have established special counters to curtail excessive charging, but the situation on ground is entirely different as no such desk existed at Karachi Company Bus Terminal and Peshawar Morr Bus Terminal in Islamabad.

It was also observed that in many buses and coaches more passengers were being boarded than the seat capacity in past. The extra passengers have to travel by sitting on stools between the rows of seats, or to sit on roof of buses.

When the bus operators were asked about the illegal increase in the fare, they responded that they are not doing this happily. “We face losses of thousands on each trip as our buses returning empty from Lahore and other parts of the country”.

They said they have to bear the cost of diesel, charges of toll plazas and wages of driver and conductors.

A driver Mansha while talking to this scribe said, “If we stop our extra trips then the situation will become more difficult and people will not reach to their homes on Eid.