Srinagar: Civilian vehicles, carrying Darbar move officials and office record, will be allowed to ply on Srinagar-Jammu national highway on Sunday alongwith security force convoy, a senior traffic police official said on Thursday.
However, no other civilian traffic will be allowed to ply on the highway on Sunday because of ban imposed by the authorities to allow free and secure movement of security force convoy, Superintendent of Police (SP) Rural Muzaffar Ahmad Shah said.
He said after the ban was imposed on civilian traffic movement twice in a week — Sunday and Wednesday — only security force convoy was being allowed to ply on the highway.
However, he said since the darbar move, seat of the government, including the office of Governor, shifts from winter capital Jammu to Srinagar, vehicles carrying move officials and office record will ply on Saturday and on Sunday. He said the issue was discussed and all arrangements have been made to allow civilian vehicles carrying move officials to travel in State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) buses or in their own vehicles.
“There is a close coordination,” he said, adding security force and move official vehicles will ply normally on the highway on Sunday.
He said similarly, vehicles of move officials will also ply on May 4 and May 5 from Jammu to Srinagar. He said the programme has also been discussed and both vehicles of move officials and convoy will ply together on the highway.
The Government had imposed restrictions earlier this month on civilian movement on the National Highway, connecting Jammu to Srinagar, saying that the order was passed to ensure adequate security to the movement of security force convoys, while at the same time, minimising public inconvenience.
However, the restrictions imposed on civilian traffic between Srinagar and Baramulla in north Kashmir was limited to only Sundays with effect from April 22 though the two-day restriction in week on Srinagar-Jammu national highway will continue.
Meanwhile, business in weekly Sunday market, which used to attract thousands of customers from different part of the valley, has been badly affected due to the ban as all the districts in the valley are interconnected with the national highway.
Majority of the political parties in the state, including National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Congress, have opposed the ban and demanded its immediate revocation.
Three former chief ministers, including NC president Farooq Abdullah, vice-president Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, even staged protest demonstrations separately on the highway against the ban.
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court (HC) on April 19 sought the government’s response on allegations of non-compliance with an administrative decision to issue travel passes for civilian traffic movement in case of emergencies the ban.
A bench of justices Ali Mohammad Magrey and Tashi Rabstan was hearing the Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed by a battery of lawyers representing the petitioners – including bureaucrat-turned-politician Shah Faesal, National Conference’s Ali Muhammad Sagar, Peoples Democratic Party’s Naeem Akhter and three lawyers – seeking striking down of the ban on the movement of civilian traffic on the Kashmir-Jammu national highway, for two days a week.
