Schools in old city of Srinagar to remain close due to security restrictions.
After remaining closed for two weeks since August 5, a large number of schools and State Government offices are all set to reopen across different parts of Kashmir Valley amid tight security arrangements on Monday.
The State Government spokesperson and Principal Secretary, Planning & Development, Rohit Kansal, on Sunday said, “Over 190 primary schools will re-open in Srinagar on Monday.”
He said, “We are also restoring full functionality of Government offices across Kashmir Valley to restore normalcy.” However, ground reports suggested, in the wake of prevailing security restrictions and absence of mobile communication facilities not many parents would be willing to drop their children to schools. Schools falling under old city area of Srinagar are not scheduled to reopen following security restrictions in place.
In Jammu, the mobile internet services, which were restored across five districts of Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasi and Udhampur, were disconnected early on Sunday morning as a precautionary measure to prevent spread of baseless rumours.
Addressing a Press conference in Srinagar, Kansal said, “The process of easing of Prohibitory Orders and providing relaxations continued on Sunday as well”. He said the relaxations were provided in 50 police stations on Sunday as against 35 police stations on Saturday and the duration in the relaxation was increased from six hours to eight hours.
Hoping to continue the relaxation in coming days, Kansal said no untoward incident was reported from the areas where relaxation was provided adding that traffic, including public transport, plied and shopkeepers opened their businesses.
Meanwhile, the first batch of 304 Haj pilgrims arrived in two flights at Srinagar International Airport after completing their pilgrimage on Sunday.
The pilgrims were received at the Airport by the Advisor to Governor Farooq Khan, who was accompanied by Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Baseer Khan, Inspector General of Police Kashmir SP Pani, Deputy Commissioner Budgam Tariq Ganai, Executive Officer State Haj Committee and other concerned officials.
The Advisor also took stock of the arrangements put in place for the arrival of Hajis so that they could reach to their destinations without inconvenience.
On the other hand,DGP J&K, Dilbag Singh Sunday visited Rajouri, Udhampur and Jammu to review the security scenario and law & order situation in these districts. He interacted with police officers/personnel and later chaired a high level meeting at Jammu.
The meeting at Jammu was attended by Div Com Sanjeev Verma, IGP Jammu Mukesh Singh, IG Armed Jammu Danesh Rana, IG BSF Narender Singh Jamwal, IG CRPF Subash Chander, DIG CRPF Neetu, DIG CISF S.N Singh, DIG SSB M.S Negi, DC Jammu Sushma Chauhan, SSP Jammu Tejinder Singh, SSP Kathua Shridhar Patil, SSP Samba Shakti Kumar Phatak, SSP PCR Jammu Kulbir Singh, SSP APCR R.C Kotwal and other officers.
During the meeting DGP directed the officers on the ground to act as per the requirements of the situation besides maintaining alertness in the border areas.
Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Sanjeev Verma addressing a press conference in the evening said there is complete normalcy in Jammu division and urged people not to pay any heed to rumours and maintain peace and harmony.
The Div Com informed that the internet service which has been restored in some districts became ineffective today due to technical fault while broadband service is still active. However, the mobile internet services remain suspended in some districts as preventive measures, he added.
The Div Com said that the rumour mongers who deliberately trying to disrupt the peace in the region would be dealt strictly under law.
