assengers travelling from big cities to smaller cities and rural areas have been left perturbed by high fares at intercity terminals as they prepare to head home to their families ahead of Eid. They complain that transporters have increased fares so high that it seems almost impossible for them to travel and celebrate Eid with their loved ones.

Farooq Shahzad, a journalist based in Lahore, wants to travel to Sadiqabad for Eid. “I used to travel to Sadiqabad from Lahore in a bus and the ticket would cost me Rs 1,600. Now, I will be travelling to my hometown on a ticket costing me Rs 2,820.” There has been an almost 100 percent raise in the fares.

“Earlier, before heading home for Eid, I used to shop for my kids. Now, I have decided to save the money as I can hardly afford to shop. I did not buy clothes for myself. Had I done so, I would be left with so little that I wouldn’t be able to travel.” He complains that ordinary people have been left paying indirect taxes on purchase of daily use items on top of direct taxes. “The government is not facilitating us.” The transporters, he says, are minting extra money because there is no check by the government.

Muhammad Tufail is a Lahore-based government employee. He, too, like Shahzad wants to leave Lahore and join his family for Eid. But for him, travelling to Multan, where his family lives, will cost Rs 1,680. “Till recently, I was able to make the same trip in Rs 1,000.”

“This is a huge burden on the salaried people like,” he says. Tufail says that the world over, there is subsidy on public transport by the government. “Here it seems the government is keen on emptying the pockets of the poor.” He says the government should provide some relief to those travelling to their hometowns for Eid.

Allah Ditta, a labourer from Karachi wants to travel to Kashmoor but is unable to pay the huge fare. “This is why I had decided to celebrate my Eid in Karachi,” he says. “But some of my co-workers purchased me a ticket from their own pocket.” “I was left feeling happy and sad at the same time”. He says it was unfortunate that he had to rely on his co-workers to buy his ticket. “Where is the state? How is it looking after me?” he asks rhetorically.

Farooq Shahzad, a journalist based in Lahore, wants to travel to Sadiqabad for Eid. “I used to travel to Sadiqabad from Lahore in a bus and the ticket would cost me Rs 1,600. Now, I will be travelling to my hometown on a ticket costing me Rs 2,820.”

For Allah Ditta, “Karachi is like a mother.” It provides him and many other labourers like him bread and butter. “But the situation has rapidly changed.” Allah Ditta works in a garments factory, and works on low wages. “The prices of all things have shot up,” he says. But Allah Ditta says the government should run their own buses to facilitate the people, especially labourers and workers who have made their way to big cities to make a living. Additionally, he says, every year during Eid and festivities, passengers have to face exploitation at the hands of public transporters since there is no check on them.

The City railway station in Lahore and most bus and wagon stops are overcrowded as large numbers of passengers have started leaving Lahore to celebrate Eid holidays in their hometowns. Railway tickets are hard to buy now. Most people prefer to travel by bus, but even those have increased fares.

“I simply don’t have enough money to travel back home as fares have been raised by the transporters,” says Zahid Hussain, who sits in a chowk looking for work. “My children are waiting for me in the village.” He says a majority of bus terminals are selling tickets at inflated rates, between 20 percent and 40 percent higher than usual. “I tried to register a complaint at the office of a bus terminal but was received with a very cold response from the terminal in-charge.” Hussain says there’s not much one can do. “Bus operators are getting more money from people who want to travel back home for Eid.”

At various bus terminals in Lahore, passengers were seen running from one bus stand to another in search of tickets, asking for concession in fares. But to no avail. At the Niazi Bus terminal, around ten workers were looking for a bus to travel to their villages. A hawker ran towards them and asked if they wanted to get on the bus. The workers said they did but could not pay the fare he asked for. At first the conductor refused them, but on the insistence of the bus driver, they were given a fifty percent concession in the fare. However, these passengers were not given seats. Instead, they were made to sit on the roof of the bus. But they seemed content, in that moment, least bothered about how the state ought to facilitate them.

The writer is a reporter at The News International. He can be reached at sherali9984@gmail.com