Kashmir Valley remains peaceful, people defy separatists' sponsored strike

Srinagar: Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, continued to witness increased movement of traffic as more people today defied the strike call given by separatists.

Many areas of the city here witnessed serpentine queues of private vehicles as people slowly began to pick up the threads of their lives affected by the nearly four-month-long strike, officials said.

As the traffic in the city has significantly increased, additional traffic police personnel have been deployed at some intersections to ensure smooth flow of traffic.

Many shops were also open in the civil lines and the outskirts of the city, while an increased number of street vendors set up stalls at many places around the commercial hub of Lal Chowk.

The official said there is an improvement in the movement of people and transport with each passing day.

However, normal life continued to remain affected in the rest of the Valley due to separatist-sponsored strike.

While there were no curbs on the movement of people anywhere in Kashmir, the official said restrictions on the assembly of four or more people were in place throughout the Valley for maintaining law and order.

He said security forces have been deployed in strength at vulnerable spots and along the main roads as a precautionary measure.

Deployment has been made at market places to instill a sense of security among the public to carry out their day to day activities, the official said.

Shops, business establishments, and fuel stations remained shut, but are expected to open this evening as separatists have given a 14-hour relaxation in the shutdown from 5 PM.

Today is the last relaxation period for this week.

The ongoing unrest in Kashmir, apart from business and tourism, has also affected the education as schools, colleges and other educational institutions continue to remain shut in the Valley.

As many as 85 people, including two cops, have been killed and several thousand others injured in the ongoing unrest in the Valley.

Around 5000 security forces personnel have also been injured in the clashes.