The doors of mosques and hotels are open for tourists, they should stay and eat here. No money will be taken!
This announcement was made in the small town of Rati Gali in Murree.
But a few hours ago, the situation had worsened on a nearby road. Here, 10 to 12 vehicles were hit by the snow storm.
“We went to the people stuck in the snow and asked them to walk with us instead of sitting in the car and staying in our hotel for free. But let them think that we are some thieves and robbers who are cheating them.
And so the tourists stranded near Rati Gali in Murree thought it better to spend the night in a car instead of going to Umar Khattab Abbasi’s guest house. Among these tourists were the residents of Rawalpindi, Muhammad Artza Raja and his family.
Umar Khattab Abbasi along with his two cousins were on the streets since the blizzard hit Murree between Friday and Saturday night and we’re inviting the people there to stay in their guest house. But they say that no one listened to them.
This stretch of road near Rati Gali is popularly known as Jungle in the area. This is the Darya Gali area between Kaldana and Barian. There are dense, shady forests on both sides of the road and this is one of the places in Murree where the temperature drops to the lowest level.
There is a four kilometer section of this road near Ratti Gali where Umar Khattab Abbasi and his companions tried to persuade the tourists. He says his guest house was fully booked that day and he is not aware of any warning issued by the local authorities.
I found out on Facebook that there is going to be a heavy snowstorm tonight. Some people in my guest house had booked for that night and the next day. I contacted them and told them not to come as the situation might get worse. Those who were near were told to arrive soon. When the storm came in the evening, it was very intense.
Snow keeps falling, but this was a doomsday storm. The wood of the trees here is raw and the trees are often uprooted due to snow and rain. Tourists don’t know these things but we are local people. When we realized that the road was closed around 12 o’clock in the night, I went towards the forest along with my cousins to see if any vehicle was stuck.
Omar Khattab Abbasi says that when he reached there, 10 vehicles were stuck in the snow. There were females among them. “They were still hoping that someone would come to their aid and we were explaining to them that it was a dangerous area and the roads were closed. Beyond these 10 vehicles, we saw the snow-covered road empty. Let us assume that these are the only vehicles that are stuck and there will be no other vehicles ahead. But we had no idea that hundreds of vehicles were stuck in the snow just a few kilometers away. There were deaths in the same area.
The BBC also contacted Muhammad Artza Raja, who was in one of the 10 vehicles stuck in Rati Gali. He confirmed that Umar Khattab Abbasi along with his companions came to help him and other families there but no one believed him.
“They offered us free food and accommodation, but we doubted how anyone could make such a big offer. It was a quiet night in the hill country and there was sound everywhere.
These local people kept coming to us from time to time but we were not trusting them. If there was a government official with them, we would have gone with them and saved ourselves from the humiliation that we suffered on that doomsday night.
After rejecting this offer, Ertaza and his wife took out a small LPG cylinder from their car and set it on fire in the car to escape the cold.
It was a dangerous act, but they say they had no other choice. In the video, which the BBC has, it can be seen that his car’s windscreen and door windows are covered with ice and the temperature has dropped below freezing.
Umar Khattab Abbasi says that when the morning came, all the people stuck at this place came towards their population and ‘people here opened the doors of their hearts and houses for all of them. We did not demand any rent from them nor did we charge any price for any item. My guest house rooms were booked so we put them up in halls, made arrangements for them in our houses and those of our relatives.
On the other hand, according to Artza Raja, he found out in the morning that an announcement has been made in Rati Gali that tourists can stay in mosques and hotels.
These people announced that the prices of goods for tourists should be halved. The chai paratha which normally costs Rs 50 here has been reduced to Rs 25 for all of us. The guest house people did not charge us rent and those who were there and could not go back were not charged extra money. I have no words that there are still such good people today. Their rooms were fully booked. Guest house owner came and said to facilitate people in every way. I ran out of cash, so I sent money to their account, and they gave me that cash.
95 people were sheltered in this area. Many families were also present in Jama Masjid here. The BBC team also met two hotel owners on Sunday who had sheltered many families in their hotels and homes here.
Artza Raja says that he left his wife in the guest house and himself participated in the rescue operations.
Now the roads here have been cleared of snow, but the business of guest houses and shops has stopped due to the ban on the arrival of tourists.
On the one hand, the local people have a complaint with the administration, who did not take timely safety measures. On the other hand, they are also angry with the trends on social media in which campaigns are being conducted against the local people of Murree.
It should be noted that many tourists have told in recent days that the hotel owners reduced the rent of these rooms from 20,000 to 50,000 rupees, which was available for 2,500 to 5,000 rupees before the snow storm.
Several tourists have also alleged that food and drink items were sold at exorbitant prices while asking for Rs 5,000 or more to push vehicles stuck in the snow.
After allegations of taking advantage of tourists’ compulsions surfaced, trends of ‘Boycott Murree’ were seen on social media. Some people shared receipts and pointed out the hotels that had increased the rents.
Umar Khattab believes that the behavior of a few people is being punished by all local people.
I saw with my own eyes that the poor people of this village, who hardly make bread for two meals a day in their house, were helping the people stuck in the snow. Very poor people also came to boil the eggs of the chickens kept at home and give them to the tourists for free. Everyone helped according to their ability.
On the other hand, we were also impressed by the behavior of the tourists who came to us. The tourists cooperated, we put women in separate rooms and men in separate rooms. Four people slept on one bed. Those who were hungry to eat one plate ate half of the plate so that everyone would have enough food and not burden the host.
