By IANS,
Srinagar : Life in the Kashmir Valley came to a virtual standstill as public transport stayed off the roads for the second consecutive day Tuesday as part of a four-day transporters’ strike to protest the hike in fuel prices.
No buses, mini-buses, taxis and three-wheelers were seen on the roads and striking transporters burnt tyres in some areas of the city.
T.S. Wazir, chairman of the All Jammu and Kashmir Transporters Welfare Association that has called the strike, said no commercial vehicle would ply anywhere in the state till the demands of the transporters were met.
The state government has, meanwhile, constituted a committee comprising the state transport minister, the finance commissioner and the commissioner of the general administration department to meet representatives of the transporters and sort out the matter.
Attendance in government offices, banks, schools, colleges and business establishments remained thin as commuters had took hours to get to their destinations.
Though the administration had mobilised fleets of the state-owned State Road Transport Corporation, their numbers proved inadequate to cope with the demands of commuters across the valley.
Reports from other parts of the valley, including Anantnag, Pulwama, Baramulla, Bandipora, Kupwara and Ganderbal districts, also indicated that the strike had thrown life out of gear.
The central government last week hiked the prices of petrol by Rs.5 a litre, diesel by Rs.3 a litre and cooking gas by Rs.50 per cylinder.