Bandipora, May 14: After about six months, scores of residents of Gurez Valley who were stranded in Bandipora, returned to their respective homes on Thursday. As many as 613 passengers returned to their homes in Gurez valley in 75 vehicles.
An official told The Earth News Network, that the passengers were screened by a team of doctors at Lal Quila Morh at Pethkoot village. He said the passengers were allowed to proceed only after getting clearance from doctors.
He said the vehicles were also thoroughly fumigated before allowing them to procced towards their destination. Moreover, 613 passengers travelled to Gurez on Day first in 75 vehicles. The passengers were also screened at the entry of the Gurez valley and the decision to put them in administrative or home quarantine will be done by the civil administration in Gurez in consultation with the doctors.
He also said the vehicles are allowed to move between 5:30 am to 11 am and urged the stranded passengers to reach Lal Qilal Morh during this time to proceed to their destinations.
Meanwhile, residents told that they are very grateful to the administration as they have been sent Gurez from here. “We’ve been stuck here for the last several months and no one was listening to us” they said.
Though Gurez-Bandipora road was opened for traffic earlier last week but the entry of people into the Gurez valley was banned as a precautionary measure amid covid-19 pandemic.
Pertinently, the 86-km-long Bandipora-Gurez road remains closed for winter months as the area receives heavy snowfall. The road was closed last December following heavy snowfall at Razdan Pass.