Karachi:Owners of public transport buses, minibuses are coaches are charging illegal fares from commuters in the megacity, as the bureaucracy had failed to uphold writ of law.
Commuters decry that minibus owners have made their own fare lists without approval from the government and they are charging from Rs5 to Rs10 more fare per seat on different city routes.The Sindh transport department, KMC, and district administration so far have taken no steps to safeguard the rights of commuters and save them from fleecing of the private transporters.
If fact whole public transport sector of the megacity is in shambles and it is creating a lot of troubles fo commuters and huge losses for the economy of Karachi as lack time and cost efficient commuter system has resulted in increase in commuting time and cost, affecting productivity levels in all sectors. The megacity Karachi is have been braving poor public transport system for decades, but successive provincial governments in Sindh did not show seriousness to revamp this commuting system due to political expediency.
The public transporters of the city had raised bus fares unilaterally after recent hike in oil prices and they are continuing to charge increased fares despite the government has already withdrawn the hike in price of petroleum products. The transporters are not allowed to hike bus fares without prior permission of the transport department which fixes the fares and issues fare list. However, the transporters mafia is now bold enough to issue their own fare lists and implement them also due to lack of governance.The violation of transport rules have increased manifold in the period of sitting caretaker government, decry hapless commuters.
Commuters of Karachi still depend on highly inefficient, costly and irregular minibus service that is run by private transporters, called ‘transport mafia’ by Karachiites. These transporters run shabby old minibuses with fake engine fitness certificates. They run their minibuses on cheap CNG but charge fare on the basis of costly diesel. They allow commuters to sit on rooftops of their minibuses so at to further maximize their profit. However, provincial transport department of Sindh, traffic police, Sindh environment department and Karachi police covertly support these transporters to fleece the megacity commuters for sake of bribes. These government departments that are mandated to uphold rule of law themselves allow the transporters of the megacity to violate any rule and law at their sweet will.
The federal government had funded Green Line metro bus system and its infrastructure was also almost completed but the provincial government of Sindh did not procure metro buses to run on it. The federal and provincial governments are also hand in glove in not resuming the surface rail-based commuting system, Karachi Circular Railway (KCR). The commuters of the megacity rightly feel that the rulers are deliberately harming the economy of the megacity by not improving its commuting system. In any economy of urban centers, especially the megacities, public transport systems play a pivotal role, but in the case of Karachi, it is the government that deliberately ignores this very crucial sector.
The economy of the megacity would grow by leaps and bounds if the government gives seriousness to the public transport sector and introduce new bus routes for its industrial and commercial areas on war footing. The federal and provincial governments could easily restart defunct KCR if they resolve their petty political differences and clear the KCR track from illegal encroachments. The Pakistan Railways is fully capable of repair and run the KCR within in couple of months without any foreign loan and this rail-based commuting system could also be run profitably if it is handled through a professional management.
However, the government of Sindh needs to purge its transport, environment and traffic police departments from corrupt officials and ensure that fake engine fitness certificates are not issues for bribes. They should also ensure that the transporters do not charge high bus fares from commuters. Moreover, at least some 200 new bus routes should be planned for the megacity, giving focus on industrial estates, commercial centers and suburban areas, so that the economy of the megacity could be boasted.
Commuters of Karachi have requested the caretaker chief minister of Sindh, governor of Sindh, caretaker transport minister, Sindh chief secretary, secretary transport department, administrator KMC, IGP Sindh, commissioner Karachi, deputy commissioners and other relevant quarters to take notice of the illegal hike in bus fares in the megacity and order remedial measures on urgent basis to save commuters from fleecing.