Truckers hog on Garam Chashma road, harass women

CHITRAL, Oct 4:  A large number of trucks keep occupying the Garam Chashma road waiting for their turn to load potatoes from the area in complete disregard to the hardship caused to the passengers. These heavily-loaded trucks are also damaging the already-dilapidated road. Local women and girl students complained that in the presence of the stranger drivers and conductors they felt embarrassed in waling on the road. They also alleged that the drivers and conductors harassed them by making their pictures on mobile phones. When our correspondent asked the drivers why they never used the truck stand and parked their vehicles on the road, they said Mehtabuddin and others were getting Rs.900 from each truck as the fee for the truck stand and Rs.200 for loading. But they denied the allegation that they even made pictures of women and students. When Mehtabuddin and others were approached to ask why they got Rs.900 as tax, all the persons in the stand refused to speak. The local people disclosed that an influential person of Garam Chishma was baking the Munshis and other to charge the illegal tax from the truck drivers. A senior officer of the local administration on the condition  of anonymity said every year 20,000 to 25,000 trucks came to Chitral and paid Rs.360 million to the officials illegally. This year, only 280 million have been collected so far and till year end the amount will reach Rs.360 million. DPO Chitral Ghulam Hussain promised that he would ask his team about this activity, adding it was the responsibility  of the truck stand owners to provide parking facility to the truckers. DCO Chitral Aminul Haq said when there was no municipality in Garam Chishma on whose order the tax was being collected. He said he was not aware of the matter. Over 40,000 people of Garam Chashma have been demanding of the government to recover the illegal tax from the concerned people and utilize it on the reconstruction of the road. MPA Saleem Khan also expressed concern that how the district administration was silent when the truck stand operators had been collecting the tax for many months.]]>