As the sun sets, the public transport for Garkote village some 7 kilometres away from the main town Uri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district disappears from the road causing immense hardships to the commuters to reach their destinations.

The villagers told Kashmir Vision that the absence of passenger buses, Sumos and mini-buses in the evening hours has taken a heavy toll on them.

“Public transport disappears as sun sets in Uri. We hardly get any sumo vehicle after 4 pm,” a group of villagers said.

Villagers said that dozens of persons were today waiting at sumo stand Uri for the sumo that plies on Garkote route. “But unfortunately there was no trace of any sumo in the stand,” said villagers, adding that they have been facing this inconvenience since a long time.

“Today, I was waiting for the sumo since 4 pm, but unfortunately no passenger vehicle turned up to ply on the road thereby forced me to cover two-hour long distance by foot,” one of the commuters said.

“There are only two buses that ply on the Garkote route, but they mostly remain overloaded with the passengers,” a local of Garkote village said.

Residents blamed the local administration for failing to ensure the availability of public transport in the evening hours on this route.

Meanwhile, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Uri, D Sagar told Kashmir Vision he will look into the matter. “I will look into the matter and the genuine grievances of the locals would be redressed at earliest,” he said.

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