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Commuters suffer as strike continues on 2nd day
KARACHI: Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI) and Sunni Tehrik (ST), despite reverse of petroleum product prices by the government, would observe wheel jam strike on Friday, Geo News reported.Setting the example of an appreciating move, the government, after strong objections raised from opposition and allied parties, had taken back fifty percent rise in petroleum product prices on late Thursday night.
The slash of 50% is applicable on the recent 9.9 percent hike in POL product prices, which means after upping prices by 7 rupees, the government reversed the price by 3.5 rupees.
On Thursday commuters of the city suffered a great deal on as transporters observed a successful strike against the recent increase in fuel prices. Despite assurances by the Secretary for Transport a day earlier that commuters would not be troubled, public transport remained completely off the roads.
President of the KTI Irshad Bukhari said that transporters are committed to continue its strike today as well. He said this was to mark their protest against the recent fuel price hike by the government.
Bukhari added that although Provincial Minister for Transport Akhtar Jadoon paid him a visit to resolve the issue, negotiations failed as the minister told the KTI president that it was impossible to withdraw the increase in diesel prices. He added that after the failure of this dialogue, the transporters were determined to continue their strike till the decision to increase fuel prices was withdrawn.
As a result of the strike call by KTI, commuters in the city remained deprived of public transport as bus owners refused to run their vehicles on the roads. A few buses started appearing on the roads towards the evening, but it was a different story during the day as commuters were desperately searching for transport to reach their workplaces.
Taking advantage of the situation, taxi and rickshaw drivers exploited commuters by almost doubling their fares. Left with no other alternative, the people had to pay the increased fares.
Suzuki pickups, which are usually used for transporting goods, were seen filled with people trying to reach their destination. Private vans were also used to transport the hapless commuters.
Courtesy www.geo.tv