Afghanistan / Water bottle being sold for ₹3,000, rice plate for ₹7,400 at Kabul airport

Kabul: Yesterday, we saw the exclusive coverage of Kabul airport by Zee Media, the first-ever Indian channel to do so since the Taliban took over control of Afghanistan. Zee Media correspondent Anas Malik brought live visuals from the crisis-stricken country, where the people are lining up at the airport for a chance to flee the country to escape the Taliban rule.

Today (August 25) Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary presented part 2 of the ‘Inside Story of Kabul Airport’ where the condition is deteriorating as the deadline for evacuation i.e. August 31 is coming closer.

At present, there are thousands of people gathered outside the Kabul airport. It is estimated that about ten lakh people want to leave the country. But till this evening, only 82,300 people were evacuated. Most of these people were foreign citizens or who possess a visa of some other country.

The common people of Afghanistan are waiting for their turn outside the airport in a hell-like situation. Many of these people today tried to pass through a dirty drain to enter the airport. It is difficult for any person to stand even for 10 minutes in this part of the airport, but these people have been standing there for the last several days.

There are many people who do not have money left for buying water or food. The water that is available outside the airport is so expensive that most people cannot even think of buying it.

The cost of a bottle of water outside the Kabul airport is up to 40 US Dollars i.e. about 3 thousand rupees, whereas for a plate of rice people have to pay 100 US Dollars i.e. over seven thousand rupees. To make things worse, only those people who have the US currency can get this water and food. The situation is terrible indeed.

According to media reports, more than 50 thousand people are still waiting outside the Kabul airport. Because of this, there is such a terrible jam that reaching the airport is a near-impossible task.

The Zee Media team spent several hours at the Kabul airport. The process of evacuating continues night and day.

A large number of people have gathered on the runway who wanted to get out of Afghanistan by any means. These people were among those lucky enough to be allowed inside the airport.

Outside the airport, the situation is worse where thousands of people are waiting to go inside. While there is hope and happiness on one side of the airport wall, there is helplessness and misfortune on the other side.

In this massive crowd, no one is afraid of the coronavirus infection. The only fear is from the Taliban.