Is highway blockade serving any purpose?
The government of Jammu and Kashmir faced lot of humiliation and embarrassment for the decision to block the traffic movement on the Jammu-Srinagar National highway for two days a week. The resentment to this decision was so intense that after few days the government curtailed the restrictions to just one day.
However, under immense pressure from various quarters, the state administration later announced complete withdrawal of restrictions on civilian traffic movement between Srinagar and Baramulla.
The restrictions which were put in place last month to facilitate movement of security forces’ convoys on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway (NH-44) did not serve the purpose they were meant for. The troops including the Army, police and even the CRPF were averse to the move as they argued that it was not possible strategically to move convoys on limited days.
The move to withdraw the restrictions came after severe criticism from political parties, trade bodies and other activists who termed the order as dictatorial.
The grapevine has it that even the state’s Governor Satya Pal Malik was also not in favor of the move as it created more barriers among the people and the administration, especially the Kashmir Valley.
Kashmir Valley is already grappling with the problem of connectivity as the only road link between Jammu and Srinagar is in a dilapidated condition which hampers the movement of vehicles for days together. For a truck carrying supplies and other essentials to the valley it takes more than a week to cross the highway as the bad weather conditions and the unprofessional management of the highway has rendered it unfit for travel.
In such a scenario restricting the movement of vehicles has added to the woes of the people to an extent that they can opt for an open revolt against such moves. Besides, the supply position to the valley has also been hit and affected quite badly as most of the food items too are running in short supply here.
The restricted movement on the highway has also hit the trade and fruit associations also as they also claim tremendous loses due to the non-functionality of the road on most of the days during the week.
Kashmir as we know is a dependent region for all its needs on outside states. In such a scenario restricting the movement of vehicles carrying supplies and other essentials will hit the region quite hard. This will also have an impact on the supply position to Leh and Kargil regions as well.
Besides, the Agricultural and Horticulture produce that is to be sent to various parts including New Delhi has also taken a hit as the dealers have alleged losses and disinterest among various stake holders.
The move to block the highway even for a single day is fraught with dangerous consequences for the already fragile economy of the state. The administration needs to ponder over this and lift the ban on movement on the Srinagar-Udhampur belt as well.
