Clampdown Ripples Hit Life In Central Srinagar
SRINAGAR (ONS): Curfew clamped on large parts of the Old City late on Wednesday will continue on Friday as well, authorities here said this evening though the day passed incident-free across the Valley.
The district magistrate said that the administration was constrained to take the step to safeguard public life and property.
Life in the rest of Srinagar remained severely hit due to the clampdown on the nine police precincts of Zadibal, Nauhatta, Safa Kadal, Khanyar, Maharaj Gung, Rainawari, Nigeen, Hazratbal in the lower city and Parimpora uptown.
A large number of shops in Lal Chowk and adjacent markets remained shuttered, and vehicular traffic thin.
Usually crowded civil lines streets and markets were markedly devoid of their bustle, and schools, colleges, banks and government offices worked on low key.
Curfew-bound areas were tightly buttoned up with strictly-enforced restrictions on all forms of civilian movement on the main roads and lanes.
Curbs were reinforced with blockades at crossings, bridges and street corners in sensitive areas, and strong deployments of police and paramilitary forces.
Barbed wire barriers had been thrown across streets overnight, and according to reports, forces personnel were posted on the top floors of residential buildings in some places.
Authorities, however, said that curfew was not imposed in the uptown Parimpora area which too had been brought under Wednesdays orders. This was done to enable the entry of vehicles coming from north Kashmir.
Thought light deployments had been made at some places in central and upper Srinagar, no restrictions were in place in these areas.
Authorities said police and paramilitary men equipped with non-lethal gear were at standby to tackle any eventuality in curfew-free areas.
Authorities had put nine police precincts under curfew on Wednesday evening following a group clash in the Zadibal area.
Also, the volatile areas of Nauhatta and its vicinity had been shut down in protest on Wednesday over police raids the previous night in which nearly a score of youth had been picked up on charges of stone-pelting.
A senior police officer said that the curfew had been imposed as a precautionary measure even though the Zadibal incident was not of a very serious nature.
Sensitive old city areas are being strictly monitored, with heavy patrolling and hidden camera surveillance, he said.
The situation is under control, and no untoward incidents have been reported, he said.
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