Jahangeer Ganaie

Laborers, students stranded in various cities demand evacuation

Laborers, students stranded in various cities demand evacuation
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Srinagar: Hundreds of Kashmiri laborers and students stranded in various Indian cities due to the coronavirus lockdown urged the J&K administration to evacuate them as according to them they are facing many problems.
The laborers and students said that they have been stranded here from last two months in and wanted to return home.
“We came here for work but everything is shut down here due to the lockdown. We are sitting idle here and are running out of resources and it is very difficult to stay back here under these circumstances,” Abdul Rehman, a labor stranded in Kerala said.
“Our whole work depends on tourism arrivals industry but due to covid lock down we haven’t earned a single penny here this season,” he added.
“We are around 500 labours stranded in several areas of Kerala. J&K administration should evacuate us as our families are also suffering,” he said.
A student stranded in Kerala said that they had been trying to contact various helpline numbers and emails addresses issued by the J&K administration but as of now they have not received any response.
“J&K administration should evacuate us as we are facing problems on daily basis and also due to lack of financial resources,” he said.
“We want to come home and urge the government to evacuate us soon as possible as we are facing problems in the city,” students said.
Meanwhile, scores of students have also appealed the administration to evacuate them from Tamil Nadu where the students have been left stranded due to the lockdown.
“We are unable to pay the rent of our rooms besides we are facing acute shortage of essential commodities,” said Bilal Ahmad, a student stranded in Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, around 100 students, teachers and labourers stranded in Uttar Pradesh due to lowdown, have appealed authorities to evacuate them at an earliest.
“We are 80 students and teachers besides labourers stranded here in UP and have nowhere to go,” a student Mudasir Ahmad Mir said over phone.
“We are in continuous contact with authorities since April 8 and now that many people have been evacuated from other states, the government shall also arrange for our return to home at the earliest,” he said, adding, “we have also registered ourselves for the return.” Another student said that they are under distress and urged the authorities in J&K to evacuate them without further loss of time.
Meanwhile, aound 500 students from JK stranded in Aligarh due to nationwide lockdown to prevent spread of Covid-19, have appealed the authorities to evacuate them.
A group of students of Aligarh Muslim University said that they are stranded from last two months due to Covid-19 lockdown and desperately want to return home.
Basharat Saleem, a student of AMU said that around 500 students enrolled in AMU besides others who had come there for coaching purposes are stranded since the nationwide lockdown was imposed in March.
“We are facing a lot of problems and it is very difficult to stay back under these circumstances. It’s taking a toll on our mental health as we are feeling depressed. We appeal the authorities in JK to evacuate us as our families are also suffering,” he said.
He said they had been trying to contact various helpline numbers and email addresses provided by the J&K administration but they have not received any response.
Another student said that their families are worried about their safety and health. “Even though our university is providing us everything whatever we need but there are some students who are living in rented accommodations, they are facing acute shortage of money besides other essential commodities.”
They appealed the Lt Governor led administration and Chief Secretary to intervene and help them evacuate from Kerala to Kashmir
Meanwhile Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary (Planning), Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday said that the total number of people returning to the Union Territory through various modes of transport has crossed 50,000.


Jahangeer Ganaie

Jahangeer Ganaie is a reporter and covers regional news and can be contacted [email protected]

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