Suhail Rather
Bandipora, June 10, KDC: The protest of the tipper and tractor association of Bandipora entered the third day on Thursday in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district. The owners of vehicles dealing with sand and gravel in Bandipora district said they were not able to feed their families amid lockdown and cumbersome government procedures.
According to the News Agency Kashmir Dot Com (KDC) the drivers staged silent protest from 7th of this month in this north district by stating that many vehicles were being seized on the pretext of operating illegally. The protest now entered day three, with drivers stating that they had no hope in view.
Drivers have established temporary sheds for night shift and are on continuous protest for pressing their demands; Aijaz Ahmad Khan a contractor said, adding that the vehicle owners were living in a constant fear of being caught by many departments.
Another driver, Irfan told Kashmir Dot Com that with lockdown and no work, they were unable to pay off loans on their vehicles and their families were forced to starve. “We have become suicidal as we are not able to feed our families. We are not able to pay power and water bills,” he said.
The drivers said that the Geology and Mining department had created chaos in a bid to “streamline the royalty” of sand and gravel.
They said that due to this, not only were the drivers suffering but the people at large were being forced to buy the material at exorbitant rates. They also requested the Lieutenant Governor and the Deputy Commissioner Bandipora to redress their grievances at the earliest. (KDC)
