Imran Naikoo writes
Daily hike in fuel prices in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has induced a costly living in a common man’s world, which has already been hitting hard due to consistent lockdowns. The high price, likes of which had never been witnessed nor anticipated by the people that too amid the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic, has submerged the population in an already evolving ocean of financial distress.
Strict lockdown after the abrogation of article 370 in August 2019, followed by the Covid-19 Lockdown in J&K, left its inhabitants financially handicapped. Businesses crippled and in utter despair are the ones living from hand to mouth. And now after tackling the second Covid-19 wave, as the lockdown has been lifted partially, people in full swing have been aiming to revive their sources of income and feed the bellies of their families. Least had they thought that travelling from one place to another with an aim to bring bread home, will be another battle for survival, since winning in this case is not an option.
In just the past 25 days, there has been a hike of around 4 rupees for a litre of petrol and as of 9 July stands at 103.5 Rupees per Litre. Diesel price in the UT has raised around 2 rupees in the last 10 days and stands at 91.72 per litre. Not just people, who require utilising private vehicles, are suffering for their survival, but also the public transporters are left with much less savings as they pay more and more for the fuel, whereas the fare remains the same. People do want to switch to public transport to conduct their everyday travels but at the same time worried about the deadly virus, which has no plans to leave the humans alone, in fact, has kept in store the 3rd wave, predicted to hit its peak after a few months. Convenient living is the silent plea of common man, despaired yet struggling to make it through the difficult times.
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