Baramulla, Nov 20: The non-availability of public transport in Hajibal village of Baramulla is causing immense hardships to the people living in the area.
Locals said that the office-goers and studentstravel on foot to reach their offices and schools located several kilometres away from their village.
“Only a few private sumos run in the area and charge huge amounts for a few kilometres. The office goers and school children either stay in rented houses in Baramulla or travel by foot,” a local Abdul Rashid said.
Hajibal is one of the villages identified by the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir as a tourist destination.
Earlier in 2022 government identified 181 villages having picturesque beauty and cultural significance for transformation into tourist destinations.
The step was taken to go a long way in strengthening the rural economy and empowering the youth and women by direct and indirect employment opportunities.
The Tourist Villages Development Program was launched by the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on September 3, 2021 for transforming a large number of villages of the Union Territory known for historical, picturesque beauty and cultural significance into tourist villages.
Locals said that the village, consisting of some 150 households, is 15 kilometres away from the main town Baramulla and attracts thousands of tourists every year.
“The geographical location of this place is a boon as well as a bane. It is situated atop hill. It is a tourist destination but traveling by foot is very much dangerous as there is always a chance of an encounter with wild animals and often no one walks on these roads. Non availability of public transport is making it worse,” another local Nisaar Ahmed Peer told Rising Kashmir.
Nisar claims to visit the Baramulla office by spending over 150 rupees a day.
“I am a government employee and I have to spend 150 rupees per day. But 80 percent of this village are dependent on agriculture work. They can’t pay 150 rupees when they earn a few hundred a day,” he added.
The locals appealed to the local administration and Deputy Commissioner Baramulla to look into the issue and direct the respective departments to assign roadways transport services in the area.
“The roadways buses move on several routes in the valley. Why can’t we have one such service available in our area? The administration must come with a solution to our problem,” Showkat Ahmad, another local said.
The locals said that few vehicles from UT transport department will ease out their problems.
