bdmetronews Desk ॥ The administration in Jammu and Kashmir has set up a control room in every district to deal with distress and emergency situations as all means of communication remain stalled.
For the third consecutive day, internet, mobile and landline services were cut off after prohibitory orders were issued in the Valley on Sunday and the clampdown is likely to continue.
The centralised control room is manned by an official who is busy receiving and sending messages on a wireless system after getting information from officials on the ground about an emergency.
The instructions are then passed on to the department concerned for immediate help. From medical emergencies to lack of ration and tourists stranded — this control room is currently the lifeline for Kashmir.
Officials said that they got information of some tourists from Argentina who were in Sonmarg but could not move out after restrictions on movement were put in place. Similarly, there was another group from Malaysia staying in a houseboat on the Dal Lake in Srinagar.
Other than these tourists, over 3,000 migrant workers and more than 2,000 students were escorted out of Kashmir after the clampdown in the Valley following the announcement of striking down of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that gave special rights to Jammu and Kashmir.
“We got information about them and arranged cars with requisite permissions for them to travel to the Srinagar airport,” said a government official in the Srinagar administration.
After waiting for over 48 hours, finally, arrangements were also made for migrant workers who had no means to leave Kashmir.
“The administration arranged state buses and if the need be private transport will also be brought in,” officials said.
Thousands of migrant workers from states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab live in Srinagar, working as carpenters, painters, barbers and labourers.
“By the end of Wednesday close to 60 buses will be leaving for Jammu carrying these migrant workers,” said an official.
With nothing to eat and having to wait endlessly, many of them waited near the bus station in Srinagar hoping the administration would make some arrangements as public transport was not easily available to cater to such a huge crowd in this emergency situation.
