Who is responsible for Murree incident? – By; Hamna Abbasi
Murree is a mountain resort town located in Galyat region of Pir Panjal Range and about 30 kilometer of northeast of Islamabad. It is a small hill station and a well known tourist spot of Pakistan. Economy of Murree heavily relies on tourism thousands of tourist visits Murree to enjoy its weather and natural beauty from early January to mid –October. ON 8th January 2022 a deplorable incident happens in Murree which has taken life of 22 innocent tourists they died inside their cars after being trapped in one of the worse snowstorms the hill station witnessed in decades. More than 23 thousand cars were stuck in snow; this happened because of heavy traffic jams due to excess of tourist influx. Who should be held responsible for this incident the hotel industry of Murree who didn’t accommodate people in danger or the poor governance which let flood of cars enter in small hill station?
Pakistanis love to visit northern areas in winters to enjoy snow fall and Murree is the most nearest area to go which have well constructed roads and almost on 2 hours drive from Islamabad People from Punjab visits Murree in a bulk amount and there is a great rush in hill station specifically on weekends .After a continuous snowfall throughout the first week of January almost one lac cars enter in Murree, a area where only twenty to thirty thousand cars can be parked. This overflow of cars cause traffic jam and road blockage .On Friday evening intense winds had uprooted trees that had fallen on the roads and on some vehicles as well. But the administration of Murree was not active in an area they didn’t feel necessary to check the situation of an area and take notice against the heavy influx of cars and guide the stranded people how to overcome the situation.
The business of Murree was at its peak there was a great rush in hotels and rent of per room in hotels were also sky high a room which in normal days easily available at three thousand were taking seven to eight thousand per day and same happens in best hotels of Murree having sweet rooms in it. The people who were stuck in snow find costly to knock the door of any hotel in Murree and feel reasonable to stay inside their cars and wait for the morning but they were unaware of carbon monoxide which has taken the life of many people. The grabby hotel management of Murree is also responsible for deaths of so many people lack of courteous behavior of natives of Murree stop tourist to ask for help and find shelter somewhere.
The worst incident of the history of Murree happened because of the poor governance and mismanagement of local administration of Murree. Area which can accommodate twenty to thirty thousand cars with difficulty how can one lac cars enter there where was the traffic management authorities why they didn’t stop tourist from entering in Murree when they know the traffic condition of Murree the reckless behavior of our government is responsible for the worst incident ever. Secondly the local management of Murree was also sleeping and didn’t come out timely to guide the tourists how they can tackle the situation the hotel management of Murree is also very much poor they are not following any standard rental rates they take the rents the way they want there is no check and balance over hotel management . In order to avoid what happened on 8th January 2022 government take strict actions against all those who are responsible for this incident like Government should set the limit of tourists visiting Murree while considering the accommodation in an area and the hotels in Murree should given proper lists of rental rates which are both in favor of tourists and hotel industry of Murree.
