Highway closure: Govt should formulate a people friendly strategy, says Azad

Jammu: Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and Congress general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday said that the government should come-up with a people friendly strategy to ensure both safety of troops and hassle free movement of civilians on Jammu-Srinagar Highway.

“Security of the forces is paramount but at the same time traffic between Kashmir and Jammu is equally important. I think the government should have found a solution like half day usage of road for both instead of completely shutting it down for two days in a week,” Azad said.

He said that stopping traffic for two days looks difficult to manage because there will be lot of hue and cry.

Jammu and Kashmir government Wednesday announced that there shall be no movement of civilian traffic on the highway from Udhampur in Jammu till Baramulla in north Kashmir for two days every week to facilitate movement of forces for the upcoming parliamentary elections.