Curfew relaxation brings respite to people in Srinagar

Srinagar, Aug 28 : People in Srinagar got some respite on Thursday following a relaxation in curfew which provided them with an opportunity to venture outside their homes and stock up on essential commodities.

A one-and-half-hour relaxation in curfew around noon brought relief to people in the city who are forced to stay indoors.

Curfew was imposed in all the ten districts of the Valley on Sunday morning to thwart the proposed march of the separatists to Lal Chowk on Monday.

The police had also arrested several separatist leaders on Monday, some of whom had tried to defy curfew in a bid to march to the city centre Lal Chowk for the proposed massive rally.

This relaxation was given in areas within the jurisdiction of twelve police stations.

People thronged the shops to hurriedly stock up on their supplies and said that the relaxation should have been for a longer time.

"We are facing a lot of problems. We have run out of supplies at home. The relaxation is for a very short time. The relaxation is not even in entire region. We need to go and get the goods and medicines from other places. We are facing a lot of problem," said Firdous Ahmad, a citizen.

Endorsing the view about longer curfew relaxation, the shopkeepers said that relaxation should be at regular intervals.

"People have come out of their homes and are making their purchases during this one-and-half-hour curfew relaxation. People are stocking up on the food materials. There is a lot of problem. They should provide relaxation at regular intervals," said Mohammed Sidiq, a shopkeeper.

Jammu and Kashmir has been in turmoil for past few weeks over the Amarnath land row.

ANI