J-K: Tourists face problems after Section 144 imposed in Jammu

The tourists who have reached Jammu railway station on Monday are facing difficulties after section 144 has been imposed in view of the prevailing security situation in the region.

Manish Jain, who came to visit Vaishno Devi temple along with his family, told ANI, "We are coming from Jaipur. The situation is such that we can't go anywhere in Jammu and Kashmir. When we enquired about the fares of the hotel, the prices weren't matching our budgets. Everything has become very expensive in the last few days here."

"I am a bit worried because my family is also here. We are planning to go back to our city but the situation isn't favourable. Many people who are coming here don't know about the ongoing situation. As a result, many are forced to leave without paying a visit to Mata Rani's temple," he added.

 

Another devotee Johny said: "I came here to visit Vaishno Devi temple along with my family and we also planned to visit other temples in Srinagar. But we got to know that we can't go there as restrictions are being imposed."

"We are compelled to cancel our trip. Besides, I feel worried due to the current situation in the state as my family is also with me. Moreover, we are unable to contact another set of devotees who came to the state after us as the network is down. The general public is already distressed because of all these," he added.

Gopal Jaiswal who hails from Gorakhpur said: "There are so many people here who want to go back to their respective homes but are stuck here. We are assessing the situation and chalking out some plans to return. However, it is not possible without the help of the administration."

Meanwhile, Rupesh Kumar Singh, a resident of Srinagar told ANI: "We are from Srinagar. Yesterday, police informed that the situation in Srinagar isn't good and asked us to vacate the place. Now, there is no means to go back to our home and we don't have any place to go. Moreover, nobody has done any arrangement for food as of now."

In Srinagar, Section 144 was imposed with an immediate effect from 12 am on Monday.

The mobile and internet services were partially suspended in Kashmir valley on Sunday.

These developments in the state come days after Indian Army had said that Pakistani terrorists are plotting to carry out an attack on the ongoing Amarnath Yatra and that the security forces have recovered a Pakistan Ordnance Factory anti-personnel mine from a terror cache.