BAJAUR: The residents of Bajaur tribal district on Sunday complained about exorbitant increase in public transport fare on inter-district routes.

Talking to Dawn here, they claimed that public transporters plying on Rawalpindi-Bajaur, Peshawar-Bajaur and Mardan-Bajaur routes had increased fares unilaterally.

“Some transporters have hiked fare by 70 on Peshawar-Bajaur route,” Shahid Ameen Utmani, a student of the University of Peshawar, complained.

He said drivers of private cars had started charging Rs1,100 to Rs1,300 per passenger on the Peshawar-Bajaur route instead of previously Rs750.

The commuters said fare was increased a week before Ramazan.

“The transporters on various routes, especially Peshawar-Bajaur route, have almost doubled the fare,” said Attaullah Khan, who reached here from Peshawar in a private car.

The commuters said the transporters were not only charging higher fares, but were also seating extra passenger in their vehicles. They said the drivers misbehaved when asked to justify the increase in fare.

The commuters criticised the district administration for not taking notice of the increase in fare.

An official of the district administration said they had received complaints against the transporters for allegedly overcharging commuters on various routes. He said the administration planned to take action against the transporters involved in violation of official fare list.

FOOD PACKAGE: A local welfare organisation distributed Ramazan food package among 60 poor families, including widows and orphans, on Sunday.

The food package was distributed by the body’s head and social activist Haji Farooq Khan at a function held in Rehmanabad area of Khar tehsil.

On the occasion, he said the package included a bag of wheat flour, a bag of rice, cooking oil, dates, tea and syrup. He said food package would be distributed among the poor families in the region during Ramazan.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2022