Srinagar: Triggering a fresh wave of anxiety among the locals in the wake of India-China face-off, the government has ordered two separate orders on stocking up of LPG cylinders for two months in the Kashmir valley and on vacating school buildings for the armed forces in Ganderbal, adjoining Kargil.
The orders gain significance as ahead of the revocation of J&K’s special status in August last year, the government had issued a swing of similar orders, while maintaining that there was no need to panic.
The government has passed directions terming them as a “most urgent matter” in order “to ensure sufficient stocks of the LPG in the Valley as the supply gets affected due to closure of the National Highway on account of landslips”.
According to an order passed by the Director of the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumers, the oil companies should make adequate stocks of LPG that can last up to two months at bottling plants as well as godowns.
It is for the first time that the administration has decided to stock up LPG cylinders at the peak of summer.
Such exercises have in the past been carried out in October-November when the harsh spell of winter begins in the Kashmir valley and affects the highway traffic.
Such build-up tends to undertake importance as the coming Yatra is likely to be a low-key affair due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Besides, Ganderbal is adjoining Kargil in the Union Territory of Ladakh, where India and China are engaged in a face-off over the Line of Actual Control.
In a separate order, the Superintendent of Police, Ganderbal, has requested 16 educational institutes in the district, including ITI buildings, middle and higher secondary schools be vacated.
“In view of the Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra-2020, these educational centers be made available for the accommodation of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) companies,” the order reads.
The degree of anxiety is even higher compared to the two previous episodes of Balakote airstrike and revocation of the semi-autonomous status witnessed last year.
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