ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Sunday allowed free mobile calls for people stranded in areas of Murree and Galliat.
A statement of the PTA stated that in view of emergency situation in Murree and Galliat areas, mobile phone users, currently present in these areas with no balance, have immediately been provided with free on-net calling facility.
On the directions of PTA, cellular mobile operators have extended free calling facility on their own network to users, with zero balance, stranded in Galliat areas. Users may contact their concerned operators for more info.
Moreover, PTA has also directed all telecom operators to ensure uninterrupted services to users and keep enough back up arrangements in case of power outages.
Murree was declared calamity hit on January 08, 2022 after at least 22 people died in cars stranded in snow amid a glut of tourist influx that led to extreme traffic jams on roads leading to the hill station.
The traffic jams were exacerbated by heavy snowfall overnight, which resulted in road blockages. In some instances, the snowstorm and intense winds had also uprooted trees that had fallen on the roads and in one instance, on a couple of vehicles.
Television footage from Saturday evening showed queues of cars loaded with tourists, hours after Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar issued instructions to expedite rescue work and provide aid to those stranded.
However, in a tweet in the evening, Buzdar claimed that all those stranded had been moved to government rest houses and hotels, adding that they were being provided with food, medicines, blankets and other essentials.
