People request military and civil authorities to address the issue in larger public interest
Srinagar, Sep 02: Commuters using Qazigund Nowgam belt of National highway on a regular basis are aghast over the alleged harassment and frequently enforced haltage of hours by the Army personnel’s manning the highway. The commuters have said that highway is now repeatedly being closed or suspended for civilian traffic to make the army and paramilitary force convoys through.
The phenomenon is a regular practice which subjects the civilians to difficulties as the enforced and intermittent haltage of civilian and government vehicles is a regular feature on the Highway, given to the frequency of convoys from morning till evening.
Javid Ahmad Dar a local from Khannabal area of south Kashmir told news agency Kashmir Dot Com (KDC) that he is a govt employee and the army personnel posted on the highway are usually an impediment in his arrival to his office in time, as they stop the civilian traffic on regular basis to make the way for convoys.
“Even if civilian vehicles are on the opposite side of convoy separated by a divider these personnel don’t allow them to move an inch till the convoy has passed the spot’’, he said.
Another local from south Kashmir told KDC that the agonizing part is that even the ambulances ferrying critical patients are not allowed to move, in situations like this.
, he said, “The precious lives of such patients, undergoing the golden hour fall in jeopardy due to the halting.”
“Patients who are in immediate need of medical attention, most of the times face vulnerability because of the said practice,” he added.
He said, “This practice is a daily scene for us and during such a situation the behavior of the security personnel at times is very unruly and harsh.”
“This has become a daily routine for us and the halting, which at times lasts for hours has made our lives miserable, he added.
Another Govt. official Mohammad Altaf Rather said that he has changed his routine to address the issue, by leaving home at least two hours before the schedule, to reach his office in time, located merely at a distance of 20 kilometers from his house.
This has become a normal routine for almost all the govt employees, living along the highway to consume hours for reaching their places of postings and the back home in the evenings.
The general public living along the Srinagar Qazigund track has appealed military and civil authorities to look into the matter to address the issue in the larger public interest. (KDC)
