Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 27: Amid outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the drivers and their associates carrying essential items including petroleum products in their vehicles are doing commendable jobs but are facing hardships due to non-availability of eatery points and safety gears.
Hundreds of drivers carrying essential items including petroleum products and LPG cylinders are working day and night so that there is no shortage of any kind of essential items across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, but are facing hardships as there are no eatery points available for them.
The drivers while narrating their ordeal said that hundreds of trucks carrying essential items move from Jammu to different parts of the Valley. Due to non-availability of eatery points on the NH, they along with their associates are facing lots of hardships, they said, adding that even sometimes they have to sleep empty stomach.
They appealed to the Government to arrange some eatery points on the NH and other parts of the Union Territory where there is movement of vehicles carrying essential items as dhabas and restaurants have been closed due to outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
However, Ranjit Singh Raina, President, All Jammu and Kashmir Oil and LPG Tank Truck Drivers and Cleaners Union has sought immediate attention of the Divisional Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir.
He sought directions to all the Deputy Commissioners of the respective districts connecting NH and other highways in the Union Territories to arrange some eatery points for the drivers and their associates.
“Take minimum charges in lieu of providing food to the drivers and their associates carrying essential items in their vehicles to different parts of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir if the administration can’t provide them food free of cost”, he asserted.
Harasis Singh, Spokesperson of the Union informed that the vehicles carrying essential items in different parts of the Jammu and Kashmir are performing their legitimate duties despite risk of COVID-19 pandemic.
He appealed to the Government to provide safety gear including masks and hand sanitizers to these drivers and their associates, who are at the forefront in the ongoing lockdown situation.
Singh also demanded passes for the drivers so that they can easily move out of their homes and reach the depots for distribution of the essential items including petroleum products in various parts of the Union Territory.
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