The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCC&I) onWednesday urged the Governor to review restrictions imposed on the movement ofpeople around the Dal lake in view of Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit.
In a statement, the KCC&I termed the order of thegovernment imposing restrictions around the Dal Lake for two days as”unwarranted interference” in the normal activities of the population.
A spokesperson of the KCC&I said that the orderpractically seals the Dal Lake and peripheral areas for a two-day period andshall cause tremendous inconvenience to tourists and persons associated withthe tourism business.
Although tourist vehicles have been exempted from therestriction, but tourists have been advised to “restrict their movement to bareminimum requirement on boulevard”, he said.
“The order has chosen to ignore the sensitive nature of theTourism business with the bizarre advice to tourists to restrict their movementto bare minimum,” he said.
“The restrictions prevent local customers from visitinghotels and Mughal Gardens situated in the sealed off zone. The local populationof the area residing in the area and passing through are also impacted,” hesaid.
“The restrictions are a telling indicator of the situationprevailing in the Valley. It was only a few years ago in the year 2013 when thethen Union Home Minister had visited the city centre and interacted with peopleand shopped there.”
“The Hon’ble Home Minister was in a private car driven bythe then Chief Minister and had proceeded to purchase Kashmiri suits, fruitsand even had ice-cream. Reference of that city-tour is given to demonstrate theminimal disturbance caused to the public although the status of the visitingdignitary was the same as today,” added the spokesman.
He urged the Governor’s administration to review therestrictions in view of the disruptions it would cause to the tourists as wellas the local population.
In view of visit of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah,Traffic Police Srinagar Tuesday issued traffic advisory on restrictions ofvehicular movement to SKICC on 26 and 27 June.