LANDI KOTAL: Cross-border movement of people between Pakistan and Afghanistan via the Torkham border has considerably declined since the start of Ramazan.

Immigration officials at the border crossing told Dawn that the number of Afghans coming to Pakistan with legal travel documents had reduced to 800 on an average daily.

They said extreme hot weather was another factor alongside the start of month of fasting as both Afghans and Pakistanis avoided travel to the neighbouring countries in such extreme weather conditions.

Official figures in Marchshowed a sharp rise in cross-border movement with number of Afghans coming to Pakistan shooting up to 4,500 on daily basis when Pakistan announced reopening of all its borders with Afghanistan after remaining closed for almost five weeks.

Immigration officials at Torkham said that visa restrictions imposed on all Afghan nationals were strictly observed and nobody was allowed to enter Pakistan through any route without legal travel documents.

Afghans` entry into Pakistan was seriously affected in June, last year when Pakistan announced imposition of its border management policy making it obligatory for all Afghans to carry their national passport with Pakistani visa stamped on it while travelling to Pakistan.

Prior to the imposition of the new border policy, as many as 25,000 Afghans would enter Pakistan every day with only a fraction of them carrying legaltravel documents.

Taxi drivers at the Torkham taxi stand also confirmed decline in the number of Afghans coming to Pakistan.

Amin Jan said three to four hundred taxi cabs would leave the Torkham stand every day but now only a hundred plus cabs were ferrying Afghan passengers to Peshawar and other parts of the country.

The local transporters in the meantime also said that vehicular traffic had also reduced since the start of Ramazan with most transporters preferring to stay with their families during the fasting month.

Azeemullah Shinwari, a spokesman for local transporters, told this correspondent that the number of trucks carrying trade goods to Afghanistan had reduced by almost 50 per cent.

He said though the delays in clearance of loaded and empty trucks by the Afghan border authorities had been amicably resolved the number of return-ing vehicles had increased from 200 to almost 500 on daily basis, but transporters were least interested to continue with their business due to hot weather and fasting month.

HesaidexportstoAfghanistan via the Torkham had slightly increased during the closure of Chaman border as a large number of trucks had diverted their route from Chaman to Torkham.

`Now that the Chaman border crossing has reopened, the number of vehicles loaded with trade goods has reduced a bit,` he said.

Custom officials at Torkham, however, insisted that bilateral business with Afghanistan was as usual and export of Pakistani items had not declined.

They said the activities slightly increased in April and May when Pakistan allowed export of a fixed quantity of its surplus sugar and flour to Afghanistan which ended in May.ing vehicles had increased from 200 to almost 500 on daily basis, but transporters were least interested to continue with their business due to hot weather and fasting month.

HesaidexportstoAfghanistan via the Torkham had slightly increased during the closure of Chaman border as a large number of trucks had diverted their route from Chaman to Torkham.

`Now that the Chaman border crossing has reopened, the number of vehicles loaded with trade goods has reduced a bit,` he said.

Custom officials at Torkham, however, insisted that bilateral business with Afghanistan was as usual and export of Pakistani items had not declined.

They said the activities slightly increased in April and May when Pakistan allowed export of a fixed quantity of its surplus sugar and flour to Afghanistan which ended in May.