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| Police resorts to lathi-charge as stranded passengers block B C Road | | |
Munish Gupta
Jammu, February 8
With Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remaining closed for vehicular traffic for the third consecutive day today, large number of stranded passengers today staged a protest demonstration demanding immediate arrangements of their evacuation.
They also blocked busiest B C Road for about half an hour which forced Police to resort to mild lathi charge to disperse the demonstrations.
The stranded passengers raised anti government slogans and alleged that the government had failed to provide any relief to them and demanded that the government should make arrangements to airlift them to Srinagar.
Narrating their problems to the media persons, they complained lack of drinking water, food and shelter.
Lambasting the tall claims of government, they said that women and children were sitting in open and have nothing to wear in such a chilly weather.
They further said that they have no money for purchasing food items from the market and it was beyond their reach to take shelter in hotel. In spite of this, the government has not taken measures for their evacuation, said one stranded with family members at Jammu Bus Stand for the past three days.
They also alleged that the local shopkeepers charged them high rates on every food and other items.
“For the past three days we have been neglected by the government and we have been left on the mercy of almighty God. There is no arrangement for us and we are forced to spend such bone chilling nights under the open sky,” said one of the stranded passengers, Ghulam Mohammed, a resident of Kupwara district.
Another protesting passenger said, Abdul Jabbar from Pulwana, “For the past five days we have been waiting for the opening of the road and are camped in the bus stand but not even a single government official bothered to visit us.”
Adding to passengers’ woes, the hotel owners are taking an undue advantage of the situation where they have increased rates manifolds.
Meanwhile, the General Bus stand Jammu have become a temporary residence for hundreds of Srinagar-bound stranded passengers as all such passengers along with their families are putting up at the bus stand waiting for the opening of the highway.
“We have no other place to go, so for the past five days we along with our family members including women and children have been putting up here in the open,” said Abdul Khalid, a resident of Srinagar.
"I along with my mother returned from Delhi on Tuesday morning after she got her medical check up done but we got struck here. Limited amount has left with us to spend on food and there seems to be no hope of opening of the National Highway shortly", Mushtaq Ahmed from Anantnag said.
The miseries of the stranded passengers don’t seem to be fading away as the met department has warned that heavy snowfall in the region would continue for next 24 hours.
“Heavy snowfall and major landslides at many places on the route has blocked the highway and the continuous snowfall in the region is hampering the work undertaken to clear the road,” said an official of the Border Road Organisation. |
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