PESHAWAR: Huge traffic jams were witnessed on all main thoroughfares and bazaars in the provincial capital as people moved towards different bazaars for shopping and to their villages and hometowns for celebrating Eidul Fitr.

Also, in the absence of any check by the authorities of the police and transport department the transporters openly fleeced passengers, charging double fares from the people on different pretexts. In routine, the roads in Peshawar give a deserted look on public holidays, but the rush in bazaars on this Sunday was almost unprecedented, mainly due to upcoming Eid and perhaps a lull in the bomb blasts.

Those coming from Hayatabad Township towards Haji Camp Bus Stand for catching buses for their respective towns were the worst-affected as they had to face the traffic jam for hours.

The commuters faced great difficulties on GT Road, Sher Shah Suri Road, University Road and Courts Road where the traffic moved at a snail’s pace. Commuters faced the problems mainly due to laxity of traffic police personnel to check violations by untrained and reckless drivers.

Transporters fleece passengers on Eid’s eve in absence of any official check

Of all the roads, only the Khyber Road was comparatively under low traffic pressure because the entire public transport vehicles had already been diverted towards Sher Shah Suri Road due to security reasons.

It was witnessed that the traffic was also clogged at Shoba Bazaar and Khyber Bazaar, especially due to heavy movement of auto-rickshaws. The auto-rickshaws and motorcycles were seen moving even on the wrong sides and on footpaths, which further complicated the problem.

The traffic jam on Dalazak Road, Peshawar, on Sunday. — Photo by Shahbaz Butt

In some areas taking illegal U-turns by uncontrolled drivers caused problems for the entire traffic and the people themselves had to manage the system as traffic police cops could not reach every spot.

“The traffic police high-ups were duty-bound to announce a proper plan for the traffic for these days and educate people to avoid congestion,” said a car driver.

He said that majority of the people were heading for their towns in far away districts. A traffic police official said that the best way for the people of Hayatabad Township was to move on the Ring Road towards their towns.

“Eid is not an event of only Peshawar where traffic plan could be announced, but the problem is everywhere,” the official said in his short comments. He added that it was not the duty of police only but the public should also extend cooperation to facilitate each others on such occasions.

The passengers also complained against the transporters for charging double fares and blasted the provincial government for not taking action against those exploiting the poor passengers.

“The actual fare from Timergara to Peshawar is Rs250 and we paid Rs500 because there is no passenger vehicle in the bus stand and the passengers had the only option to pay double fare,” a passenger Ashraf Ali of Swati Phattak said.

When contacted, Khan Zaman Afridi, president of Urban Transport Union, claimed that some ‘individual transporters’ were indulging in charging double fare on the eve of Eid.

He said that the main reason for overcharging by transporters was that on every Eid a lot of passengers moved from big cities to different districts, from where the vehicles returned empty. As such, the transporters have to meet their expenses, he said.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2014