Srinagar: Life returned to normal on Sunday in Kashmir valley after remaining affected on Saturday due to a strike called by Hurriyat Conference (HC) on the first anniversary of bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.
Business and other activities resumed while traffic was plying normally on all roads in the valley, including the summer capital, Srinagar, where a good number of customers have thronged to the weekly Sunday market.
Meanwhile, security force personnel, who were deployed in strength on Saturday as a precautionary measure, have been withdrawn.
Shops and business establishments, which remain open on Sundays, reopened. However, shops remained closed in historic Lal Chowk, the nerve centre of the city, and other main business hubs of Hari Singh High Street (HSHS), Regal Chowk, Budshah Chowk, Residency road, Moulana Azad road, Maisuma, Batmaloo, Gonikhan and Mahraj Bazar due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Similar scenes were witnessed in the downtown and Shehar-e-Khas (SeK), where shops and business establishments reopened and traffic was plying normally on all roads.
Maintaining social distancing, hundreds of vendors have put up their stalls in the weekly flea market from Tourist Reception Centre (TRC) to Hari Singh High Street (HSHS), including Lal Chowk, the nerve centre of the summer capital, Srinagar.
Reports of normalcy were coming from other parts of Kashmir valley, including Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama, Shopian in south Kashmir.