Burn our vehicles or allow us to resume work: Transporters to Govt

Srinagar: The transporters operating Jammu and Ladakh services from Srinagar on Saturday demanded authorities to allow them to resume their services and said that they will follow the guidelines in letter and spirit.
The Srinagar-Jammu-Ladakh Taxi Services Owners and Drivers Union TRC headed by Waseem Ashraf Bhat attempted to stage a protest today, which was foiled by the authorities.
Bhat said the transporters have been facing immense hardships since they have not been allowed to resume their business.
“We have been left on God’s mercy as no one is bothering to take a decision for the well-being of transporters,” Bhat said, adding that they are not even able to pay monthly EMIs of the loans as well.
He said that the association was scheduled to stage a protest but the authorities didn’t allow them to hold the demonstration. He added that “the government should either set ablaze our vehicles and kill us or allow us to resume work to feed our families.”
Mudasir Ahmad, member of the association said that it is unfortunate that the SRTC buses have been allowed to resume their activities while only private transporters have been left to lurch.
He said SRTC busses have been ferrying passengers from Atari and that too without any social distancing. “One fails to understand why only private transporters are being pushed to the wall. We are ready to follow the guidelines in letter and spirit but we should at least be allowed to resume our business,” he added.
Ahmad further stated that anyone among the transporters who will be found violating the norms should be dealt with strictly.
The association appealed the Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu and other higher ups to look into the matter at an earliest
Quoting a new study published in Canadian Medical Association Journal, he said summer won’t halt the spread of Covid as was previously hoped.
Dr Nisar said policy makers and public should remain vigilant in their response to the pandemic, rather than assuming that summer climate will naturally prevent spread of the virus.
“Studies have shown that public health measures like restrictions on mass gatherings, school closure, physical distancing and wearing face mask play an important role in stemming the spread of the disease,” he said.
“People must continue to follow health guidelines and if they don’t, we will end up in a big outbreak which will be difficult to control,” said Dr Nisar.