There is uncertainty in the air. Mutton sellers are having a field day as do the chicken sellers. Sumo drivers are charging double the price for almost all rides right under the nose of authorities. It is all how much you want to sell the item for, you get it sold for that price.
Srinagar, after a long time, looks like a city that has lost its humanity. Humans look towards each other with an air of suspicion. Nobody knows what is going to happen. Everyday we see young people dying by suicide. Unemployment is on a steep rise. The avenues and opportunities available in the private sector are all shrinking day by day.
The Covid-19 coupled with the political uncertainty has created a void in the socio-economic atmosphere of valley which is hard to fill. Gold is so costly that there have been very few marriages this year with a majority being cancelled. The penchant of Kashmiris for spending huge sums on marriages are costing us dear. The whole economic structure is going for a toss.
For the fear of high sumo fares many people in the periphery of Srinagar who entered the main part of the city for petty jobs have stopped coming to the city. The private school teachers are not sure where from the next months meals will come from.
The government is doing everything it can. But it is not proving enough. The situation is so grim that the government machinery needs to pull its socks and come up with tangible solutions to mert the present crisis. A lot needs to be done in a short span of time.
