Overcrowded Public Transport Vehicles Continue To Ply In Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Despite the government's directive asking the transporters to operate at 50 percent occupancy, private transporters in Kashmir are operating at the normally full capacity in thereby putting lives at risk.

LG Manoj Sinha Tuesday while extending night curfew to the urban areas of all 20 J&K districts also issued directions to the respective district administrations to ensure only 50 percent occupancy in the public transport vehicles to ensure social distancing among passengers to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The transporters, however, said that such orders were incurring them heavy losses and said that the authorities should consider their situation while issuing orders.

The public transport vehicles were on Wednesday seen operating at the normal capacity throwing covid SOPs to the winds. Such violations were witnessed on many routes.

Jehangir Chowk-Rangreth route, Jehangir Chowk-Hyderpora-Humhama routes witnessed public transport vehicles operating at full capacity. Similar scenes were witnessed on the Srinagar-Chadoora route.

In Srinagar city, the traffic police did crackdown on the erring vehicles, those in peripheries went off the hook in absence of the required checks.

After the police action on the erring drivers, the drivers plying on the Jehangir Chowk-Rangreth route halted the service in protest.

The drivers demanded a hike in the passenger fare in case they were to reduce the seat capacity to half.

“How will the half seat occupancy for the same fare suffice our needs when 90% of the earned amount would be spent in filling diesel?” a driver asked.

Pertinently, transporters in Jammu division are currently on strike against the government order saying they had suffered too much due to the earlier lockdowns.

“HOW WILL THE HALF SEAT occupancy for the same fare suffice our needs when 90% of the earned amount would be spent in filling diesel?”