Perils of traveling on the KKH
Sajeel Ashumat
Irresponsible travelling companies are playing with the lives of innocent GB folks. If you have ever traveled to the north of Pakistan(GB) in a public transport service, you must have been begged for the mercy of God to save your life thrice or in some case more than that.
The veteran drivers of the mountain roads enjoy their formula 1 racing coasters under the fierce ego to not let the other company’s man go ahead of them and win the contest. Since they are actually playing race on the world’s most perilous and the highest paved highway, they brag about it later on,playing along with the innocent lives of the people sitting on the back. As the poor people cant afford to commute to and fro from Rawalpindi to Skardu and vice versa in an airplane (keeping the expensive fares in mind). Sometimes these morally irresponsible drivers are found playing recklessly on the highway in order to flaunt their extra ordinary driving skills,meanwhile breaking down of the vehicles has become a usual thing to happen in the first place on this particular route.
The concerned authorities of the companies are abbetors of the drivers in this extreme negligence equally,which takes away a lot of precious lives together.They don’t trained the drivers ,they have no criteria of hiring and firing and what’s more dangerous is the fact that they don’t do a proper check of the vehicle’s maintenance which has been running relentlessly for last three or four days.Obviously its a machine it will break down for sure.
Now, who will take the responsibility of all those thousands of people who succumbed their lives in just a mere accident on the karakoram highway? Who is going to be convicted for the catastrophes which have been created after every incident that occurred down the roads?? Who will pay back for the bereaved families who have lost their dears in just a mere negligence?
Time to think and raise voice against this horrendous dilemma.The Government should intervene to upgrade the policies and procedures of each and every transport company running in Gilgit-Baltistan,i rather suggest that Government should impose adamantine SOP’s on the travelling agencies to make sure the safety of passengers and Buses both so that the lives could be saved in the future.
Written after surviving a major road accident recently near Kohistan.
