KHAR: Shortage of public transport is troubling the commuters here who are returning to their places of work across the country after spending Eid holidays with their families.

An unusual rush was seen on Monday at the Jinnah Bus Terminal in Khar, the main intercity bus station in Bajaur Agency, owing to shortage of public transport.

Taking to Dawn, passengers, including students, said they spent hours at the bus station but no vehicle was available.

Fawad Ullah Khan, a student of Army Public School in Abbottabad, said he along with his colleagues had been in the bus station for over three hours, but found no vehicle to depart for the school.

The commuters said they did not see shortage of public transport at the bus station in the past.

It was observed that dozens of passengers, women and children among them, were sitting under the shelters made for vehicles inside the bus station. While scores of others were seen waiting outside in the open.

Akram Khan, resident of Mamond, said he wanted to go to Peshawar but postponed his decision till tomorrow (Tuesday) because of absence of public transport at the bus station.

Some commuters also complained about overcharging by the transporters, claiming that cabbies on Bajaur-Peshawar route were fleecing them. They said a passenger was charged from Rs800 to Rs1,000 from Khar to Peshawar instead of Rs500.

Salarzai Khan, a manager at the bus terminal, told Dawn that shortage of public transports had been continuing since Sunday when most people started returning to their work places across the country.

He said over 400 public transport vehicles, including buses, wagons, taxis plied on Bajaur-Peshawar, Mardan and other routes daily.

However, Mr Khan claimed that the situation was likely to be overcome in next three days.

Meanwhile, the local administration claimed that it was keeping a close watch over public transporters to ensure that passengers were not fleeced on Bajaur-Peshawar route.

An official told Dawn that a special committee comprising senior officers of Bajaur Levies had been assigned the job to monitor the situation.

The official said strict action would be taken against the public transporters found overcharging the commuters.

Published in Dawn September 20th, 2016