Strike disrupts normal life in parts of Kashmir

Normal life in some parts of Kashmir was disrupted today due to a strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference to protest against any plans to construct a road to Amarnath Shrine.

Normal life in some parts of Kashmir was disrupted today due to a strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference to protest against any plans to construct a road to Amarnath Shrine.

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Shops, schools, banks and other business establishments in an around Lal Chowk area here remained closed due to the strike called by Hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, officials said.

However, life was near normal in the suburbs and other districts of the Valley as the strike call failed to evoke much of a response in these areas.

Transport services were plying normally on all major routes in the city and elsewhere in the Valley, they said.

Geelani had called for a one-day strike to register protest against any plans of the government to construct a road to Amarnath Shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.

The Hurriyat hawk had called for disbanding Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), which manages to annual yatra, and handing over the management to Kashmiri Pandits.

Geelani had said unchecked and uncontrolled number of pilgrims to the cave shrine was causing tremendous harm to the ecology of the Valley.

The state government has already stated that it has no plans to construct any such road but was improving the tracks in view of the Supreme Court orders.