ACUTE SHORTAGE
Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing a phase of acute shortage of essential items particularly in Kashmir valley due to closure of highway.
Srinagar-Jammu highway is closed for more than a week now with authorities only claiming that it would be restored soon. Police and other wings of administration are busy in enforcing strict restrictions on the movement of the people in the wake of growing positive cases of COVID-19. They have been claiming that there is no shortage of essential items, but the ground situation speaks otherwise, as media reports suggest many parts of Srinagar city have disrupted supply chain mechanism.
Administration has not been able to clear the road for those 800 trucks laden with essential items for Kashmir valley. With police not allowing shopkeepers and other suppliers to move freely, supply chain is already disrupted in entire Kashmir valley especially in Srinagar city and the closure of highway is only adding to such problems.
Administration is only enforcing lockdown without mitigating the problems of common people as they are finding it difficult to get the essential items for daily survival. There is acute shortage of essential items including medicines in various parts of Kashmir as there is no mechanism laid down by the administration for the smooth supply chain to function so that people are not forced to defy restrictions and come on roads in search of essential items.
It is surprising why central government is not airlifting essential items to Kashmir valley in this severe lockdown with highway remaining disrupted for days together. It is high time that central government should fix the responsibility in the administration of Jammu and Kashmir so that bureaucrats are not given a free hand to only keep the lid on a boiling pot. Central government should understand that there are problems compounding in Kashmir because of months old lockdown and people have very less purchasing power with hundreds of families looking for means of survival, as economy has been in shambles from August last year.
