Reluctant transporters keep buses off roads, suffer millions in losses

Traffic policemen also spend busy day patrolling roads for VIP movement.

KARACHI: Apart from public transport, goods transporters also decided to keep their trucks off the roads on Friday to mark the Muttahida Qaumi Movement's (MQM) day of mourning.

Even the traffic policemen spent a dull day. Altaf Husain, a traffic official on MT Khan Road, did not issue fines to any vehicle the whole day and was sitting on his motorcycle making sure that the road was clear for VIP movement.



"Strikes are 'cool' days but our duties are harder as I have to patrol until my duty ends," he told The Express Tribune. The roads on strike days are free from public buses and even fewer private cars are seen. Husain admitted he was going easy on traffic violators on Friday. "The roads are empty and traffic flows without any obstruction so I don't want to bother the drivers who have free roads."

The strike did, however, create problems for those who use public transport to reach their workplaces. A large number of men and women were seen stranded on main thoroughfares. The rickshaw and taxi drivers took this opportunity to demand higher fares than usual. "We have more passengers and a chance to make more money than why not cash it," claimed a rickshaw driver in Kharadar, Naqeeb Khan. "Moreover, I am running my rickshaw on petrol so I have to charge more to meet my fuel charges and make profit too."

Even the transporters complained that they suffer millions of rupees when they stay off the roads for even a day. "We had to keep our vehicles off the roads because of the uncertain situation," said Ghulam Yasin, the chairperson of the United Goods Transport Alliance (UGTA).

"Our vehicles are loaded at the Karachi port and they pass through sensitive areas where they can be torched."

Yasin explained that they have not supported the strike but kept their vehicles off the road for their own protection.

Karachi Transport Ittehad also followed the strike out of fear of being torched. "One of our buses was torched in Korangi last night immediately after the strike call," pointed out its chairperson, Irshad Bukhari. Since the government does not offer compensation for the damaged vehicles, the only way to protect them is to keep them off the roads, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2014.