Polling over, J&K eases traffic restrictions on national highway

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Saturday tweaked its controversial order prohibiting the movement of civilians on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, and said the ban will be in place only once a week on the 55-kilometre stretch from Baramulla to Srinagar. However, the 220-kilometre stretch between Jammu and Udhampur will continue to remain out of bounds for civilians for two days every week: Wednesdays and Sundays.

The decision to relax the restrictions was taken after the government reviewed the situation in the region after Lok Sabha elections were successfully conducted in Baramulla, Udhampur, Jammu and Srinagar seats.

"The requirement of security forces is reducing, so the government decided to relax restrictions on traffic. The ban on civilian movement between Srinagar and Baramulla will be limited to Sundays only," said an official spokesperson. "These restrictions will continue to be reviewed periodically, and relaxations will be made if the need reduces. Even on days of restrictions, the local administration would facilitate movement of emergency vehicles, as has been the case over the last two weeks."

The government also noted that they are considering the possibility of allowing public transport buses like the JKSRTC to ply during the period of restriction. "A complete review of restrictions on the highway would be done after the last phase of elections on May 6. These restrictions were done keeping the security interests of everybody in mind," he added.

Ban Explained

Civilian traffic was banned on the highway every Sunday and Wednesday, reserving the two days for movement of security forces’ convoys. A possible terror attack was given as reasons behind the order.