As the water goes down, the rates go up

SUKKUR: An angry flood survivor shook his fist at a tractor-trolley driver, enraged that the driver was asking him for Rs2,500 when they had earlier decided on Rs2,000.

“He agreed to bring us to Sultankot for Rs2,000,” said Gullan Pahore, whose family had just returned to their hometown from a relief camp in Shikarpur. “Now he is demanding Rs500 extra.”

The trolley driver, Ayub Jatoi, had no qualms about asking for more money. He maintained that the family had pretended to have very little luggage with them but “now you see what all they have brought”, he said, gesturing towards the pile of belongings, which included two wooden cots, a big iron box, at least 12 bags of ration, a buffalo and two goats.

Too much luggage or not, transporters in flood-hit areas of the province have definitely upped their rates.

The part of the Shikarpur-Jacobabad road that connects Sultankot and Humayun is still submerged.

Sultankot town was flooded seven weeks ago. Its roads and streets were inundated with five to six feet of water. After the floods, more than six kilometres of the road was damaged, cutting off links between Shikarpur and Jacobabad. Although the part of the road that was washed away has been repaired, a significant portion of it is still hidden beneath two feet of water, which makes it very difficult for smaller vehicles to traverse the road.

Though the road connecting Shikarpur and Jacobabad was never in the best of conditions, the floods have worsened their state. They are pitted and potholed and driving has become even more treacherous because of the floodwater that is still accumulated on it.

Taking advantage of the watery situation, transporters, especially tractor trolley and Mazda owners, are charging treacherous fares from people who want to pass through the flooded part of the road to the other side, where they shift onto a bus or a wagon. However, even the bus and wagon owners are charging double fares from Shikarpur to Jacobabad.

Most of the tractor trolleys taking people from Sultankot to Humayun were charging Rs20 to Rs30 per person for a distance of around 5 km. If a flood survivor wanted to take his or her car along, the charge was pushed up to Rs1,000.

Meanwhile, people travelling in buses and wagons from Shikarpur to Jacobabad were paying Rs80 to Rs100 per head instead of the usual Rs40 to Rs45 per head.

Travelling the 5 km from Sultankot to Humayun cost around Rs20 in a bus.

“It is not our fault, we are just employees so we do whatever we’re told to,” said a bus conductor, Yakoob Brohi, talking to The Express Tribune. “Earlier we used to charge Rs40 per passenger from Shikarpur to Jacobabad, but since the flood hit we are charging Rs80 to Rs100 per passenger,” he admitted, adding, “All the money goes into the pocket of the owner, I just get Rs200 per day.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2010.