THE picture above speaks louder than words. People coming to Karachi from different parts of the country converge at the Jamshoro toll plaza ahead of the Hyderabad-Karachi highway. After a tiring journey, and with their destination just about a hundred miles away, the long queues at the toll plaza take a toll of a different kind; a toll on one’s nerves. All vehicles have to wait for long despite paying hefty financial toll.

The worst sufferers are light vehicles and cars which are always overtaken by heavy vehicles, like passenger buses, trucks, loaders and containers. The situation is like something one watches on National Geographic documentaries where big whales are seen consuming small fish.

Despite the fact that these toll plazas are managed by a national institution of prestige, the absence of discipline and sense of waiting and proceeding in separate queues for light and heavy vehicles are irritatint, to say the least. It is a chaos, and Motorway Police looks helpless.

It does not help much once one finally reaches the ticket counter as the attitude and behaviour of the ticket-collecting personnel is simply rude and pathetic. It is beyond being acceptable, yet remains acceptable because no one can do anything about it. Why can’t the relevant authorities work on ticket-collection through computerised censors?

Aries

Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2021