Srinagar: Landslides forced suspension of cross-LoC trade on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road as authorities Tuesday  managed to evacuate to safety 16 passengers, including five PaK residents, who were stranded near Kaman Post.
The passengers on board ‘Carvan-e-Aman’ (peace bus), connecting divided parts of Kashmir, had crossed into this side from across the LoC yesterday but got stranded after a massive landslide blocked the road at Uri sector’s Tin Bridge, 115-km from here, a police spokesman said.
He said two passengers crossed the ‘Aman Sethu’ from this side while 16, including five PaK residents, came from across the border and had to spend the night inside the bus due to closure of the road.
The spokesman said senior police officers made necessary arrangements, including providing blankets and food, for the passengers and stayed with them throughout the night.
He said despite inclement weather, men and machines were pressed into service and the road was made traffic worthy this afternoon following which the authorities managed to evacuate the passengers to safety.
Kashmir was cut off from rest of the world today as heavy rains and snow lashed wide parts of the valley including summer capital Srinagar for the second day disrupting normal life.
The spokesman said the scheduled cross-border trade was suspended today due to bad weather.
“The trade failed to take place due to inclement weather,” he said.
The cross-LoC travel between divided Kashmir was started in April 2005.
It was followed by the cross LoC-trade in October 2008.

KR Desk