Srinagar, April 20: Normal life and traffic movement were partially disrupted across parts of Kashmir on Monday as transporters observed a strike against the proposed expansion of Smart City bus services to district routes.

The All Jammu and Kashmir Transporters’ Welfare Association had called for a Valley-wide ‘chakka jam’ (road blockade) over fears that the move may threaten their livelihoods.
“We faced a lot of difficulties due to this ‘chakka jam’. I work in Srinagar and want to go home to Kupwara. There are no buses or cabs. A lot of people like me have been waiting for transport for over an hour,” said a commuter, Imtiyaz Malik.
Several buses, mini-buses and inter-district cabs did not ply across the Valley.
However, the auto-rickshaws and government buses operated as normal.
Shabir Ahmad Matta, president of transporters’ association, urged Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to stop the proposed expansion of Smart City bus services.
“This ‘chakka jam’ is against the expansion of bus services under the Smart City project in other districts. Recently, the transport minister said 200 more buses will be brought. We are against that, and we condemn it,” Matta said.
“We had told the government not to go ahead with the move. We also told the officials to address our concerns, but they did not,” Matta added.
Matta said the proposed expansion of services in areas such as Pulwama, Kangan and Sopore has triggered fears among transporters over the “loss of livelihood”.