A mad rush for home ahead of Eid

Islamabad: As the Eid approaches, people made a mad rush for native lands on Friday, the last working day at government and most private offices ahead of the two-day religious festival. Islamabad and Rawalpindi’s bus terminals and railway station saw a large influx of commuters.The police had deployed additional personnel at bus terminals and railway station to avert any untoward incident amid terrorist threats.

The people bound for hometowns to celebrate Eid with families complained they were made to pay extra for boarding private buses.They also regretted overloading of intra-city public transport vehicles.

At Pirwadhai, Faizabad and Karachi Company bus terminals, most homebound Eid holidaymakers said they wanted to reach native towns without trouble and, therefore, they’d no choice but to pay inflated fares.

Some protested that the transporters were overcharging them and, thus, causing heated exchanges.Many commuters travelled on bus roofs due to unavailability of seats. There were also complaints about lack of sitting arrangements at bus terminals.

Muhammad Rafiq, a government servant standing at Karachi Bus Terminal, regretted transporters had spoiled the holidaymakers’ celebrations by charging them too much on Eid.

“If you argue with transport companies’ representatives, they either come up with lame excuses for fare hike or misbehave, so most commuters avoid arguments and quietly pay the asked-for amount of money to board desired buses,” he said.

Other intra-city commuters said the transporters had increased fares from 20 to 50 per cent without let or hindrance. Transporters, however, denied overcharging passengers by and large and said some instances of inflated fares couldn’t be generalised. The transport authority said commuters should contact the traffic police for immediate relief against overcharging.