People stranded in Jammu hold protest, demand airlifting

Around 300 passengers, stranded at the Jammu bus stand due to the closure of Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in view of snowfall, today held protests demanding that they be airlifted to Kashmir.

The travellers from Kashmir and the Chenab Valley are stranded at the General Bus Stand, Jammu, with the highway remaining closed for the fourth consecutive day today in the wake of landslides at some places and a fresh spell of snow in higher reaches in Kashmir.

They protested against "the failure of the administration to make arrangement for alternate accommodation till the opening of the highway".

Meanwhile, National Conference expressed anguish over the "callous" attitude of the PDP-BJP dispensation towards the stranded passengers and said if appropriate urgent measures were not taken with regard to their lodging and airlifting, the party cadres would be forced to take to the streets.
 

An NC delegation, comprising party legislators and senior functionaries, visited the bus stand and talked to the passengers.

They said they were "appalled to see poor sanitation and food facilities there".

Some of the passengers said the government did not bother to provide them any assistance.

The delegation urged the administration to shoulder its responsibility in meeting the situation and make necessary arrangements for the stranded people till the highway is opened for traffic.

It hoped that the issue with regard to airlifting of passengers would be taken up with all concerned including the air force.

The NC members said "they will stage massive dharnas if the administration did not wake up to meet the situation".

The leaders also sought deployment of a team of officers for coordinating facilities and safe passage of the stranded people to their respective destinations.

"A grave situation has arisen due to the swelling number of stranded passengers and the coalition government cannot remain in a state of inertia," provincial president Devender Singh Rana said.