SRINAGAR Authorities on Tuesday reiterated that no civilian vehicle would be allowed to ply on the highway from Udhampur in Jammu and Baramulla in north Kashmir and vice verse on the first working convoy day on Wednesday.
On Udhampur-Srinagar-(Baramulla) on Highway, (Wednesday) will be Convoy day. No movement of any kind of public vehicle shall be allowed from Udhampur towards Srinagar-(Baramulla) and vice versa, a traffic department official said.
Last week, an order from the states home department banned civilian traffic on the highway, from Udhampur in Jammu to Baramulla in northern Kashmir, for two days a week.
Form 4 am to 5 pm, every Sunday and Wednesday, the 200-km stretch is reserved for military and paramilitary convoys.
The highway, described as lifeline of the Valley, crisscrosses through five districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Srinagar, Budgam and Baramulla.
Day one of highway lockdown on Sunday, left travelers, stranded on the thoroughfare and frustrated. The impact was visible all along the stretch of the highway as people of all ages were seen walking on foot to their destinations.
The government statement said that special permission was given to just 493 vehicles in the exempted categories, over the entire day. On a normal day, over 10,000 vehicles each hour use the highway (over its full length).
The government also acknowledged that on day one of the highway ban, people had to use alternate roads including old highway and other internal routes to commute and reach Srinagar not conveying the hardship of being cut off from their provinces lifeline. It would be first day when the ban will be imposed on the working day and weather some measures by the divisional administration will ease hardships would be seen on Wednesday.
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