Travelling in peril

Passenger coaches used for smuggling goods

Quetta: Balochistan’s passenger buses have become the main source of smuggling. The smuggled goods are stored in different sections, and seats, however, the number of passengers is limited on the Quetta-Karachi route.

95 per cent of biscuits, crockery, shampoo, carpets, diesel and petrol, are being smuggled from Iran and transported by buses for only a few hundred rupees, according to experts. Transportation and smuggling of tyres is also being carried out in passenger coaches.

The smuggled goods are transported to Quetta by road from Taftan and Turbat and later to Karachi. A godown has been established at Sariab Goth where the smuggled goods from the border areas are stored.

Noor Ahmed, President, Balochistan Truck and Transport Company Association, has alleged that 95 per cent of smuggling in Balochistan is done through passenger buses. ”There are several in Balochistan where only goods are smuggled instead of carrying passengers,” he said.

According to Ahmed, spaces have also been made under the seats. Flammable items like diesel and petrol are also smuggled in the buses. This has led to a huge loss of the transport companies. He insisted that the government should take strict action against them.

“These buses are for passengers and not for goods. Government should ban and ensure that cargo is not being transported through buses and make bus owners strictly obey the rules,” says Majeed Ali, a resident of Quetta.

”This bus mafia is so powerful that smuggled goods are also carried in pilgrims’ buses, enroute to Iran” he said, adding often the seats of the buses are removed for more space for goods transport. Similarly, smuggled biscuits, crockery, shampoo, carpets, diesel petrol from Iran can be delivered to the desired location for just a few hundred rupees resulting in a huge loss to the government exchequer.

It has been reported that customs authorities have taken major steps to prevent the smuggling of goods through railways. Quetta Customs Collectorate has collected additional tax revenue from 16 per cent of the set target in the year 2021, and the customs department in Balochistan is working with the business community of the province to eradicate smuggling.

Chief Collector Customs Abdul Qadir Memon said that in the important province of Balochistan, Pakistan Customs is trying to establish two more trade corridors from Afghanistan and Iran in order to increase revenue and promote employment in the province. “Pakistan Customs collected about one trillion rupees in taxes in the fiscal year 2021-22, which is 16 per cent  more than the target. Pakistan Customs is also ensuring the provision of all possible facilities to the local business community of the province.”

Due to the tug-of-war between the smugglers and the Coast Guard,  passengers traveling inside Balochistan, including Quetta, face difficulties due to protests on the highways.

The owners of the coaches often protest against action by the authorities against the prohibited items smuggled from foreign countries in the coaches and other vehicles from Quetta and other areas of Balochistan. The items include tyres, carpets among others. When the authorities sieze the smuggled goods, the drivers park their coaches on the Quetta-Karachi highway, and open their tyres, which results in a gridlock. The gridlock causes problems to everyday passengers who are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

In the meeting led by Provincial Secretary Transport Authority, Zafar Kubdani, it was decided that the provincial government will activate a tracking system in buses and coaches and strict action will be taken against vehicles without a tracking system. He said that no one will be allowed to carry goods in vehicles and action will be taken against the violators.

13th Provincial Apex Committee meeting held recently, under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister Balochistan, Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo has decided to ‘ban’ the carriage of petrol and any other flammable material in passenger buses. Action will be taken against the perpetrators, and no negligence will be tolerated in this regard.

In this regard, all commissioners and deputy commissioners were instructed to take effective measures, while in the light of the directives of the chief minister, it was also decided to immediately eliminate unnecessary check posts on national highways.