Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Mar 25: Over 500 stranded Kashmiri passengers who have been placed under quarantine at Kathua campus of Jammu University complained of unhygienic facilities and demanded shifting to the quarantine facilities in their respective districts.
The passengers were on their way from Delhi to Srinagar when authorities stopped them at Jammu. They lamented that even after getting through the screening in Lakhanpur they were disallowed to move towards Kashmir. Instead, they said, the authorities asked them to remain in quarantine for the next fourteen days in a shabby university campus which lacks the basic sanitation. “The floor is full of dust and bathrooms have not been sanitized either,” Danish, a stranded passenger said. He said that they wanted authorities to allow them to their respective districts.
He along with his friends reached Lakhanpur on Wednesday morning. “We were made to wait from 7 am- 8 pm. We waited without having any food,” he said. After braving all, he said, they were disallowed to move towards Srinagar and taken to isolation.
They said as the Government cancelled all the flights they hired taxis from Delhi to Srinagar and passed all the checkpoints before getting stopped at Jammu. “First they cancelled all flights and are now stopping us to go home,” Danish said, adding why were not quarantine facilities ready when they had blocked everything.
Danish’s account of the conditions were corroborated by two other people at the facility, along with photographs.
The travellers said they found mattresses placed on a dirty floor, ten-fifteen in one room, and stinking bathrooms. “By mixing people in such a manner could spread the infection. We want clean rooms and sanitized washrooms or sent us to our home districts,” Tawseef another passenger said.
Around 1800 people who have been put up in various facilities complain of poor facilities and unhygienic conditions.
Deputy Commissioner Kathua, O P Bhagat said that the issue of sanitation would be resolved soon. “We visited the facility today and are already on it. It is in our notice already. We have already issued the directions. We will, in fact, resolve the issue by tomorrow,” he said.
Asked whether they would be allowed to send to their respective districts. “For the safety of everyone they have to remain in quarantine for at least fourteen days. They will be allowed to go after that,” he said.
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