Everything was on a normal track and the worries of livelihood were on in the country; all of sudden, news bombard from the mountains of Murree, telling an unfortunate story of yet another tragedy to the nation. This time it wasn’t a man-made incident, but surely a result of a lack of timely measures to deal with the extreme weather conditions.
At least 21 tourists including women and children shivered to death as Army, Frontier Corps, and Rangers were called in to rescue thousands of tourists stranded in the frosty cold of Murree and Galyat after the authorities imposed an emergency in the hill station declaring it a calamity-hit area on Saturday.
The authorities invoked the emergency after the normal life was paralyzed due to the heavy snowfall last night. The deceased belonged to Lahore, Gujranwala, Islamabad, and Mardan including eight members of the same family.
Now the question which arises here is who should be declared responsible for this tragic incident. Before driving any conclusion, let’s discuss the statements of those who we think are the right people for our leadership.
Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday expressed shock over the death of 21 tourists as heavy snow trapped them in their vehicles as tens of thousands of visitors thronged Murree.
“Shocked and upset at tragic deaths of tourists on road to Murree,” PM Imran Khan said, as he mentioned that “unprecedented snowfall and rush of people proceeding without checking weather conditions caught district administration unprepared”.
PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday expressed sorrow over the deaths of tourists in Murree as heavy snowfall led to a chaotic situation in the hill station.
Terming the incident as “criminal negligence” on part of the administration, Shahbaz said the event has exposed the incumbent government, which “cannot even handle a traffic situation”.
The PML-N president questioned why when the government “knew” that such heavy snowfall would hit the area, did it not make arrangements to save the people.
The question which arises here is whether the previous governments of PPP and PML-N developed a proper system enough to deal with such incidents? Secondly, the question which is most important to be asked is from the current government that if they were aware of the long snow spell, why the administration allows a huge number of tourists to travel to Murree? If they were not aware of the long snow spell, then there is a question on the coordination of the government.
Terming a large number of tourists as the reason behind this tragedy is absolutely shameful. Yes, it is the responsibility of the tourists as well to be aware of the weather conditions but it isn’t an obligation. This is a matter of responsibility as a nation but not an excuse for the government to deal with such tragedies.
Yet again, the arms forces were busy rescuing the stranded tourists as usual. The government must revisit its policies to avoid such tragic incidents and the nation, considering it as a national duty must act responsibly.
