Kupwara, Jan 18: The residents of this frontier district today complained of acute scarcity of ration and blamed the district administration of indifference over the issue.
 The local alleged that the ration depots were empty and the consumers had to purchase the essential commodities from the open market at exorbitant rates.
 “The people of Hayhama, Batpora, Manigah, and scores of villages in Lolab have been returning empty handed from the Consumer Affairs and public Distribution Department outlets due to non-availability of ration,” the residents of these areas told Greater Kashmir.
 “If the shortage continued, our children will starve,” the residents said adding that they were dependent on the CAPD ration as their crops suffered maximum damage due to the flash floods in 2010. 
 “Taking advantage of this crisis, the shopkeepers have started resorting to hoarding and selling the rice and flour at an exorbitant rates,” the residents of Batpora said.
 Ashraf Wani, CAPD Joint Director who is having an additional charge of Kupwara said, “As per 2001 census there are only 96000 ration cards which stand approved by the authorities and the remaining 90000 cards are off-shoots and liability on the department and shall be counted from next census only.
 He said the shortage of ration at Bumhama godown was due to some ‘unfavorable conditions.’ “We are going to lift the ration from Litipora godown if the situation persists. The consumers need not to worry as we will soon overcome the problem,” Wani added.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 18 Jan 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 18 Jan 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:00:00 IST