LAHORE:The mass exodus emptied the provincial capital as according to an estimate over three million people belonging to different parts of the province left to celebrate Eidul Azha with their families at their respective home towns, on Tuesday.
Almost half of the people living in Lahore belong to other districts and they all try to celebrate Eid with their families. Lahore’s total population is about 9 million and when over three million returned to homes, the city traffic took a sigh of relief.
Three official Eid holidays followed by two weekly off days have provided a long weekend not only to many hailing from other districts but also to Lahorites. Eid holidays also provided an opportunity for the Lahorites to go to other districts to see their relatives.
A large number of people commuted a day before Eid and a risen demand for commotion on Eid also made the transporters overcharge. Increased transport fares and limited vehicles forced the commuters to pay extra to get seats for a comfortable journey.
Fares increased uniformly across main bus stands. For Islamabad passengers the fare increased just a day before the Eid and the situation was not different for the passengers that wanted to move to other 36 districts of the province.
The commuters and the passengers for the inter district routes were found helpless and there was no mercy for them at the hands of the transport owners. The people wanted to leave city with the families seemed more worried about their comfortable journey as they were not in a position to travel while facing hardships.
Many were found registering their protest and complaining against this illegal action of the transporters but interestingly no one from the city administration checked overcharging.
Transport authorities said the owners were overcharging to cover the expected loss of the vehicles that will return without passengers on their way back.
Many commuters said that country was already facing multiple crises and overcharging on Eid was a cherry on top.
