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| Feeling between land and sea, stranded passengers lament 'official apathy' | | |  Kunal Shrivatsa
jammu, Jan 10: Within tall claims of the administration of making elaborate arrangements for stranded passengers who are forced to face the wrath of nature at one side and the 'official apathy' on the other yet are left with no other option but to live at the mercy of Almighty at General Bus Stand for the last five days in bone chill conditions.
Though the administration is claiming that most of the passengers have been sent free of cost on a fleet of SRTC buses to their respective destinations, the atmosphere at
General Bus Stand negates the official version as hundreds of commuters are still languishing there and waiting for their turn to go home. The marooned passengers while speaking to Early Times (ET) rued that in their hour of distress, the government machinery has failed to extend them necessary and timely help.
Peeved over the government's indifference towards their plight, a stranded passenger
Abdul Hamid of Wampora in Kulgam district said though some Ministers and other VVIPs visited the area and assured the stuck up passengers for necessary arrangements to evacuate them, the ground reality is that there are several passengers who are yet to leave for their native lands.
"We are left in lurch by the government….. I along with my wife and three children have trapped here for the last three days…. It is indeed an extended wait for us to reach our destination since all of us had been to my in law's place in Bengal," Hamid said
"After a long and tiring journey from Kolkatta we were crestfallen when arrived here Jammu to know that National Highway is closed and it is impossible for us to embark on further travelling….. We are almost broke as the food items and lodging charges are expensive and costing us dearly…. The food articles served to us are also of poor quality but one can not do anything and has to tolerate," he added.
Demanding adequate help from the government and early air service arrangement to ferry them to their respective destinations, another passenger Abdul Rashid of Srinagar lament that the administration has deceived innocent passengers by sending them on fleet of buses yesterday but they again got stuck at Nagrota and Udhampur.
"It was much better here than being stranded on highway…. One of my friends was part of the group of passengers who left for valley told me over phone that they are stuck up at Udhampur…. We are stranded here for the last five days but no one from the administration bothered to give a glance to our miserable condition. Many children and elderly passengers have fallen ill due to severe cold and unhygienic conditions…. Even my wife is running high fever," Rashid said angrily.
Another passenger Noor Hussain Tas of Shopian said that most of the passengers belong to labour class, who are poor and unable to bear the expensive rent of hotels, lodges and are unable to have pricey food items.
"It is understandable that vagary of weather is not in the hands of human beings but it is the duty of the administration to provide at least food and shelter at reasonable rates to the poor passengers who are running short of money…. A plate of simple 'Dal' is being charged at as high as Rs 70 while the bedding is provided at Rs 100 per person," Hussain lamented and prayed to 'Almighty Allah' not to get anyone in such a odd situation.
"The government should not delay the process of ferrying the passengers …It should immediately make arrangements to airlift them to their respective destinations," he added.
It is worthwhile to mention here that a large number of passengers mostly labourers and traders were stuck at General Bus Stand due to the closure of Jammu-Srinagar Highway as heavy snowfall at several places struck the only road link between the two capital cities. |
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