PESHAWAR, Aug 17: Commuters in the city have been suffering due to a shortage of passenger buses on the roads as police have impounded more than 350 buses on Tuesday for use in the local body elections.

“We still need some 150 more buses,” a police official said. The vehicles would be used to send police and Election Commission staff to the places of their duty, an official told Dawn.

However, the disappearance of a large number of buses from the road has created problems for commuters who have to wait for hours to get a bus. They are forced to travel on roofs of buses as a large number of bus owners are avoiding to take their vehicles out on the roads.

Meanwhile, angry owners and drivers of the impounded vehicles staged a demonstration and called on the government to return their buses.

When an official was asked about payment being made to the bus owners, he said: “We will pay Rs400 for each bus/van per day.”