By Noor Aftab
Non-availability of seats in public transport vehicles has left scores of commuters in the lurch who are even ready to pay some ‘extra’ money to ensure booking of their seats.
Commuters who are trying to contact bus transport companies on landline numbers are either not finding any recipient or those who attend their calls flatly denying them booking of their seats.
“I have received my monthly salary a couple of days back and after that all my efforts to ensure booking of seats for my family members went waste,” said Nawazish Ali, a government servant who intended to spend Eidul Azha with his family members in Multan.
He said that it was not possible for government servants to book their seats long before Eid, as most of them could do so only after receiving their monthly salary.
The situation has greatly benefited ‘exploiters’ who remain present at bus stands to offer tickets to commuters on extra payment. Though the officials of bus transport services clearly denied any links with these people, but the commuters accused that the transporters sell tickets on extra payments with help of their agents.
“Those who do not book their seats on time accuse transporters of all this mess. The commuters should ensure their booking well in time otherwise shortage of seats is quite common few days before Eid,” said Nauman Raza, who works at a transport company in Karachi Company.
The transporters were of the view that unprecedented number of commuters travel towards their hometowns before Eid and it is not so surprising if there is any kind of problem in securing bus tickets. The commuters who have to go towards far-flung areas are mainly facing problems because the number of transport vehicles for these areas are limited in number. “Passengers who are heading towards major cities or their adjoining areas may avail themselves of various options but those who want to go to interior side of province have limited options,” said Yasir Baig, a passenger at Faizabad bus stand who intended to go to a village somewhere near Rahimyar Khan.
The passengers who travel through rail cars get their tickets booked well ahead of Eid festival so those who still fail to get bus tickets have no option to use train service. The miseries of commuters clearly shows that it is really advisable to secure booking of seats well in time, but on the other hand the concerned authorities must take effective measure to ensure that no agents are involved in selling tickets on extra payments.