There are a lot of places in the uptown Srinagar where the youth openly indulge in drugs. Smoking weed is so commonplace in these hotspots that youth indulge in it without care. Sometimes the people of the neighborhood find it difficult to believe that youth are found squatting in a circle taking turns at a joint of weed. These youths no longer care about observers or those passing by. These youth have become so emboldened that they no longer care.
According to media reports the old zero bridge area in uptown Srinagar is considered to be the primary hotspot of drugs in uptown Srinagar. It is an area ubiquitously dotted with coaching centers and the hostels where these young men and women put up. In the evening hours this area witnesses a huge rush as the youth from other parts of Srinagar also converge in this area. The result are a few anti-social activities with drug usage being one of them
In carefully calibrated whispers the residents of the area had complained to the relevant authorities about the same but not sufficient action was taken. One common notion is that a large number of these youth have huge fan following on social media and when they post pictures and reels of places like old zero bridge in evening and late-night hours it somehow is seen as an indicator of normalcy. So, the residents believe this as the main reason for inaction of relevant authorities.
The authorities need to clamp down on drug hotspots like these which are openly thriving in civil lines areas of Srinagar city. While the work of the government in curbing drug menace in other districts must be appreciated at the same time the government must put the foot on the accelerator when it comes cracking down on these drug hotspots in the cityside areas of Srinagar city.
Our youth have tremendous energy. These energies must be channelized for the fields like sports, career and other life choices. Let our youth thrive and excel. And the first stepping stone to meet that end would be saying no to drugs for once and for ever.
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