Srinagar, Jan 16: While it apparently took time for the Roads and Building department to clear the main roads across the City Monday putting people to inconvenience, the other agencies including police and the civic body concentrated on “small targets”.
 Amid continuous snowfall, the City police and Srinagar Municipal Corporation concentrated to keep the lanes and bylanes leading to Masjids and shrines clear for public movement.
 While the SMC Commissioner Sheikh Mushtaq had asked his teams to get the lanes leading to Masjids cleared on priority basis, the north City police took a step further by concentrating on roads leading to the shrines.
 Talking to Greater Kashmir, Superintendent of Police north City Shoket Shah said around 200 police personnel cleared the roads leading to old City shrines like Khanqah-e-Moula(RA), Dastgeer Sahib(RA), Naqshbandh Sahib(RA) and the hillock shrine of Hazrat Sheikh Hamzah Makhdoom where the Urs is going on these days.
 He admitted that the police wanted to avoid any resentment from public circles over snow clearance.
 “Most of the people in Shahr-e-Khaas are habitual of paying obeisance at shrines and if the snow wouldn’t have been cleared, it would hurt their sentiments,” the SP told Greater Kashmir.
  Official sources said the City police Chief Syed Ashique Hussain Bukhari personally monitored the snow clearance and talked to people in this regard.
 Though the police and SMC didn’t work together, same was the strategy of the civic body.
 Its Commissioner while admitting that all lanes and bylanes in the old City couldn’t be cleared in the first go, he said the corporation concentrated more on the roads leading to Masjids. His team however also got the Makhdoom Sahib(RA) shrine staircases cleared.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 IST