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| Marwah residents demand additional chopper flights for stranded passengers | | Govt owns Rs 33 crore dues to private chopper service providers | |  ASIF IQBAL NAIK
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Feb 16: The people of remote Marwah and Warwan along with Dachhan area of Kishtwar District today demanded for pressing additional chopper flights to overcome the problem of huge rush of stranded passengers as well as the patients who got stuck in these areas presently under heavy snow cover.
As per the details available with Early Times, hundreds of people every day are assembling at Kishtwar helipad with the hope that they will be airlifted back to home as all the routes leading to Marwah and Warwan area of Kishtwar District are closed due to presence of heavy snowfall in the area and also due to blockade of Sinthan and Margan passes that provided the road connectivity to these areas.
Speaking to Early Times, Sarpanch Amjad Hussain informed that Marwah areas are totally neglected by the successive governments who fail to construct the proper roads to these areas having population of nearly 35000 souls adding that the people are mostly dependent on private chopper service providers for lifting the people two and fro.
Another Sarpanch Ashiq Hussain told the Early Times that among 36 sanctioned government offices, barring few; majority of these offices are functional at Kishtwar Headquarter adding that even for a single sign on documents, people had to rush to Kishtwar. He said that several people including students and patients who had come for treatment at Kishtwar had got trapped at Kishtwar and wasn’t able to go back home due to non availability of roads. He also called for immediate pressing of more choppers for shifting of patients as well as general public.
“We are paying the chopper fair as was fixed by the government— in fact people are paying extra money to cope up with the losses to chopper service providers from Kishtwar-Jammu since hardly any passengers were available from Jammu to Kishtwar and vice versa” Ashiq Hussain said.
Some passengers told the Early Times that they are regularly visiting the Kishtwar helipad since last two weeks but didn’t find the chance to get the ticket as there is heavy rush of passengers as compared to the number of flights available which are quit less.
Speaking to Early Times, an official associated with the private chopper service providers inform that the government owed around Rs 33 Crore dues to the service providers adding that they have no objection in pressing more choppers into services in case government cleared the pending dues to the services providers.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar Rajinder Singh Tara, SSP Kishtwar Dr Harmeet Singh Mehta, ADC Kishtwar Pawan Parihar also visited Marwah area today to take stock of the people’s suffering.
Later, the people at helipad Kishtwar also called on DC Kishtwar and requested him to arrange more choppers for airlifting the stranded passengers from Kishtwar and Warwan beside for immediate shifting of patients from these areas. They also raise several other issues of public importance.
DC Kishtwar after giving patience hearing to the people and the issues raised by them assured that he will look into the matter beside also assured them that he will take up the matter with higher officials for introducing more choppers to tackle the need of local public of Marwah, Warwan and Dachhan. |
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