SRINAGAR: Exactly a year after the launch of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service amidst fanfare to bridge the hearts of divided Kashmir, the enthusiasm of travellers on the Indian side of the Line of Control seems to be waning, thanks to curbs on travel and the long time taken to clear the passengers.

Of the over 5,000 applicants, only 311 persons from this side of Kashmir have been able to visit their relatives in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The enthusiasm to board the `Karavan-e-Aman' from PoK has been higher as over 500 persons visited this side during the first year of the service. Today, fewer people are applying to travel by the bus and still fewer of them are undertaking the journey. The authorities are taking a long time for verification and completing other formalities relating to the travel. ``I have already visited my relatives on the other side as I was not cleared to travel by the bus,'' Nazir Ahmad, a resident of Srinagar, said.

Many a time, especially before the October 8 earthquake last year, the bus had carried less than five passengers to the Kaman post, the last point on Indian side, although India and Pakistan had agreed to allow 30 passengers every fortnight from either side.

The general refrain among the people of the Kashmir Valley is that by restricting the travel only among the divided families to travel on board the bus has not served the real purpose of enhancing people-to-people contact.

``How many divided families would be there on either side of the ceasefire line? The bus service should have been open to all citizens of Jammu and Kashmir so that they could interact with each other and understand each other,'' said Ghulam Mohammad Rather, who was refused permission to travel on the inaugural bus as he had no relatives in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

According to officials in the regional passport office here, there was a sudden increase in the number of applications after the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that flattened most of PoK and border areas of Uri and Tangdhar on this side of the LoC. But the number of applications has dropped again as the pendency list of prospective travellers is already too long, they said.

Many waiting

Nearly 1000 persons have availed the facility of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service but thousands more are waiting for easing of restrictions and increase in frequency of the service. — PTI

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