'Karvaan-e-Aman' bus to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir cancelled

Srinagar, Mar 15 (UNI) The ''Karvaan-e-Aman'' (Caravan of Peace) bus was today cancelled after the 170-km Srinagar-Muzaffarabad, road was closed due to heavy snowfall and landslides.

The bus service has been cancelled because of landslides and snowfall on the road, official sources told UNI.

They said an information was received from across the border that recent heavy snowfall had triggered landslides at different places.

Passengers, Who were scheduled to travel in the bus plying after every fortnight, were disappointed after they were told about the cancellation of the bus service.

A number of passengers, who were going to the PoK for the first time since 1947 to meet their relatives, said they were eagerly waiting for the trip for years. However, those who were returning back were happy to get two more weeks to stay here.

The cross-border bus service between the divided Kashmir was launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 7 in 2005 after nearly 58 years following agreement between India and Pakistan to allow families separated since 1947 to meet each other.

The service remained suspended for about three months after major portions of the road on other side of the border besides Aman Setu, peace bridge on the last border point on this side, were damaged in the 2005 earthguake.

The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, also known as the Jhelum Valley road, was closed for traffic on October 27, 1947 when ''Kabailis (tribesmen)'' invaded parts of Jammu and Kashmir which came to be known as PoK.

About eight thousand members of the divided families had traveled to PoK and this part of Kashmir since the bus service was resumed.

The Both the countries have also agreed to start truck service on this route.

UNI