SKARDU, Nov 2: The people of Baltistan have criticised the decision of PIA to enhance fare on Skardu-Islamabad route from Rs6,000 to 10,000 in one go.

The residents told Dawn on Wednesday that Gilgit-Baltistan was a backward region and that was the reason the former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had given relaxation to the people in the PIA fare. They said, the PIA's decision was totally unfair.

They said that the decision would adversely affect the people, particularly patients and students, as they won't be able to travel by the national carrier from now onwards due to unaffordable fares. They said taking patients from Skardu to Islamabad was an uphill task for them as the road was too long and was in bad condition.

The people said that the PIA authorities were trying to make up for the losses from the poor people of Gilgit-Baltistan by increasing air fare. They demanded of the president and the prime minister to take notice of the matter and direct the PIA to revert to the old fare.