Crackdown on public transporters continues
BOONI: The district administration of Upper Chitral continued a crackdown on public transport vehicles involved in overloading on routes to remote areas such as Yarkhun, Laspur, and Torkhow.
The crackdown was launched soon after a taxi land cruiser fell unto a river in front of Unauch village while travelling to upper Yarkhun from Chitral town on the night of May 30, leaving nine people dead.
The accident occurred due to overloading at night time, according to local people.
The district administration, soon after the accident, banned night-time travel by public transport vehicles to Yarkhun, Laspur and other remote areas.
On Friday, the district administration in a statement said that on the direction of Deputy Commissioner Shah Saud, Assistant Commissioner of Mastuj at Booni along with the traffic police issued tickets to the drivers of public transport found involved in overloading.
It said the drivers were issued strict warning of strict action if they continued flouting directions issued earlier. the drive has been launched to avoid similar accidents due to negligence of drivers.
But locals told ChitralToday that such orders and actions were not the permanent solution to the issue. They said night-time ban on transport could be implemented by setting up police pickets on the road from Booni to Yarkhun and other areas.
Moreover, the already existing barriers and posts of Chitral Scouts on the road in different villages can be utilized for the same purpose in coordination with the Chitral Scouts.