Broken transactions, trapped cards, and dirty kiosks have become the norm at J&K Bank ATMs in main town Bandipora in north Kashmir, causing severe inconvenience to the public, especially the elderly and digitally novice people.
Without on-site assistance, customers facing technical issues are finding themselves completely stuck. The lack of maintenance has also left the ATM cabins heavily littered with discarded receipts and debris. “The elderly or uneducated people used to get help; they were guided on how to operate the machines,” Traders president Ali Mohammad Hajam explained.
He added, “If my card gets blocked or stuck in the machine what should I do? Today, people suffer because there is no one there.”
The people detail that disengagement of the security guards and completely eliminating their roles has developed into a crisis like situation besides taking away livelihood from many families.
“All of them have now been pushed into unemployment,” Hajam addes. He said, “Their employment has been snatched away, and this is wrong.” Noting that laying off two guards per ATM has stripped income from dozens of local households. The locals have urged J&K Bank to reconsider the layoffs and reinstate the guards to resolve the crisis.
Open garbage dumping in Arampora village; residents urge RDD to act tough
Piles of household garbage dumped along the roadside in Arampora village in north Kashmir’s Bandipora has become a major nuisance, leaving locals frustrated.
For residents, the expanding mounds of trash are far more than just an eyesore. “Pedestrians, daily commuters, and schoolchildren are forced to be exposed to the filthy stretch every day,” Irshad Ahmad Bhat, a local resident said.
He added, the crisis was adding to their distress, as the garbage attracts packs of stray dogs to the neighbourhood. Locals say this has created a particularly frightening situation for those walking in the dark to the masjid for early morning prayers and particularly become dangerous for school going children.
The RDD officials have urged the residents to use the garbage collection vehicles running two to three times a day.
While the residents are urging daily cleaning of the garbage, besides taking to the task those blue eyed persons responsible for dumping garbage in the open.
