Gurez residents await airlift assistance

Excelsior Correspondent

Srinagar, Mar 13: After taking three months to finalize the operators to provide the subsidized airlifting assistance to the residents of snowbound Gurez in North Kashmir’s Bandipora district, the people are yet to receive the benefits as the new operators have failed to kick-start the services.
The locals said that more than 100 people who either want to go home or resume their jobs after winter break are waiting for the airlifting for last fifteen days.
“Soon after Government decided to reopen the schools, I reached here but despite visiting the helipad at Bandipora on daily basis I have been unable to resume. Thankfully, the Government has extended the vacation for snowbound areas,” said Mohammad Amin, a stranded teacher.
With a population of nearly 35000, there are about 27 villages in the sub-Division of Gurez, which are directly dependent on the airlift assistance as all the roads are blocked due to snow. Earlier, the Civil Aviation Department of the State in the month of October 2016 started the process of hiring helicopter on wet lease basis by floating bids but it took four months to clear the bids.
Yasir Arafat, an Administrative officer at Department of Civil Aviation, said: “We have completed the bidding process and the operators who will carry the services have been finalized. The company which has been given the contract is not able to start it yet. I think they do not have enough crew needed for the job.”
Asked why there was delay in the delivery of services, he said that there was hardly any response from the bidders initially but everything is in place now. “We will start the services within one week,” he said.

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