Weekly bus service between Srinagar-Pok under consideration: RPO

Srinagar, Jul 15 (UNI) A weekly bus service between Srinagar and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) has been under active consideration of the government, Regional Passport Officer (RPO) B Manavalan said.

Participating in the DD-Live programme here, the Mr Manavalan said at present, there were five points -- three in Kashmir valley and two in the Jammu region -- from where people from the state and PoK crossed sides.

Two points were connected by road, while at three places, people had to cross on foot, he said.

He said the bus was plying twice a month. However, plan to make the bus service weekly, was under the government's consideration, which might get the green signal soon.

However, when a caller wanted to know if he could cross into PoK for attending wedding of his relative on the other side after having a valid passport, Mr Manavalan said only those having permit could travel through those five points.

He said at the time of starting the bus service, both the countries' governments agreed to allow its residents to travel on the permit system, which was issued to a person only after the consent of authorities of both sides.

He added that anybody holding a valid passport will not have to go through normal verification again and he will be issued the permit once the clearance was received from other side.

About the permit, he said, forms were available free of cost.

Efforts were on to collect permit forms at District Collection Centre (DCC) set up at all districts, presently collecting only passport applications.

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