Awantipora residents seek improved public transport facility
Pulwama: Residents of Awantipora and its adjacent areas are facing lot of problem in absence of public transport especially buses not available on the national highway.
The residents of Lethpora, Barsoo, Goripora and various other areas said no buses remain available for them on national highway mainly during the peak hours in morning and evening.
Tawseef Ahmad, a resident of Lethpora who works in a private company at Srinagar said that every morning he has to spend waiting at least 1 to 2 hours on the national highway to catch a bus to work.
He said that SRTC buses coming from Anantnag to Srinagar do not stop in our area with an excuse that they carry only government employees.
“If we board in a Sumo vehicle or a cab they charge us with hefty amount even for shorter duration travels,” he said, adding that many people who are working in private companies cannot afford to pay such a price for travelling.
Shabir Ahmad, another resident said that every day we have to wait for hours to get bus on the national highway.
He said the situation is even worse on various internal routes as no buses ply on them making it a hey day for the private cab operators to charge passengers with whatever rates they deem fit.
Locals said that they have brought this issue into the notice of higher ups several times but to no avail.
They requested Divisional commissioner Kashmir, RTO Kashmir and DDC Pulwama to look into the matter and make arrangements for providing adequate buses for commuters.
Jahangeer Ganaie
