Panic among residents as tension escalates between India, Pakistan

Following escalation of tension between India and Pakistan in these times of war, tempers ran high and panic gripped city residents. Phones rang continuously and messages shared after every few minutes to know about the situation and on what would happen next till the wee hours last night. Despite the pleas made by the district administration to the people not to panic, residents looked worried and anxious. Petrol stations saw serpentine queues of residents for getting fuel for vehicles. The markets witnessed less footfall of customers, but those dealing in basic commodities, medicines, groceries, etc. witnessed “panic buying”.

Ashok Sachdeva, president, Petrol Pump Dealers Association, here said that there was a rush at fuel stations because of panic. “Last night, we got sudden rush in the evening. Almost all petrol pumps saw serpentine queues of vehicles for fuel. Though there has been no shortage, still people want to be on safer side,” said Sachdeva.

At the same time, shopkeepers in the markets rue that in the last two days there was very less footfall of customers in the market. Ayush Aggarwal, general secretary Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, here said that the markets did not witness normal rush of visitors because of the tension between India and Pakistan. “At the same time, the shops of essential commodities and medicines witnessed rush and residents were seen stocking necessary items,” said Aggarwal.

The home makers too looked worried as during late night hours they called each other to ask if they should operate bank lockers to take out their valuables. “I called up my friend, who is working at a bank, to ask if we should get the valuables from the lockers in case war takes place, and she asked us to wait for another day or two. In case the situation escalates, we will take out the valuables from lockers,” said the worried woman not wishing to be quoted.

At Ludhiana railway station, huge rush of passengers was witnessed in the evening while it was normal during the day. Ram Bhagat, a migrant labourer, said that he had gone to Jammu for work, but since the situation was very tense there, they had started back for the native places in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The trains coming from Jammu/Katra side were jam-packed with passengers going back to their homes. Many students from Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar, were also travelling back to their homes following war-like situation.

At the same time, rumour mongers also added to the panic. A local resident, Kiran, said that there was a pre-planned get-together on the occasion of the birthday of a dear friend, but in the middle of the celebrations everyone started running towards the lift to get out. “Someone said that there was a bomb blast near Guru Nanak Bhawan, but all these were rumours, which created a lot of panic. We must be responsible enough not to circulate or believe such rumours,” rued the resident.

Ludhiana