Feeble traffic on roads as police see improvement

SRINAGAR: In the eleventh week of the unrest — marked by protests, killings of civilians, spells of curfews and an uninterrupted shutdown — a feeble movement of traffic was witnessed in Srinagar’s commercial heartland and phone network was partially restored as the police saw situation improving in the region.

Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 20

In the eleventh week of the unrest — marked by protests, killings of civilians, spells of curfews and an uninterrupted shutdown — a feeble movement of traffic was witnessed in Srinagar’s commercial heartland and phone network was partially restored as the police saw situation improving in the region.

The traffic movement, comprising entirely of private cars and motorcycles, was significantly higher as compared to rest of the days of the unrest. However, the public transport continued to remain paralysed as shutdown called by the separatists remained in effect across the Kashmir valley. The markets across the region also continued to remain shut.

The movement of the traffic was slightly higher during morning hours and decreased as the day progressed. Much of the traffic movement was concentrated towards the commercial hub of Lal Chowk and its adjoining markets, which also house offices of private companies and banks.

There have been no major incidents of protests and stone-throwing in Srinagar over the past few days. The last major protest in the city was on Saturday last week at the funeral of a minor boy, who was hit by pellets.

With fewer protests in recent days, the mobile phone communication has also been partially restored in the region. The police on Monday evening announced that the post-paid mobile phone network was restored following an “improvement in the situation.”

The mobile phone network was shut in the run-up to Eid-ul-Azha last week, when the separatists had called for a march towards a local office of United Nations and the state government had anticipated clashes with demonstrators.

However, the mobile Internet services and incoming call facility to the pre-paid phone connections continue to remain suspended for the past 11 weeks since the unrest was sparked by the killing of a militant commander.

More than 80 civilians have been killed in the unrest so far and several thousand have been injured as the police and paramilitary forces attempted to quell the protests.

The separatists, who are steering the unrest, have called for a round-the-clock shutdown until Friday.