Poonch-Rawalakot bus service resumes

Amit Khajuria

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Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 26

A week after its suspension, weekly Poonch-Rawalakot bus service was resumed today, as 46 stranded passengers returned to other side of the Line of Control (LoC).

Last week, the PoK administration did not respond to the call of their Indian counterpart after which the service was suspended, which led to the 42 POK residents stranded on this side of Jammu and Kashmir.

Officials said the service was resumed today and 46 passengers, who were here to celebrate Eid with their relatives living on this side of the fence, travelled back to their home.

They also informed that there was no new traveller from either side of the LoC.

Sources said the authorities did not have any intention of suspending the service on August 19, and they had sent a message to their counterpart on the other side of LoC for the bus service, but POK didn’t respond to it, following which they had to suspend the service.

Earlier, after the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan had suspended Thar link Express and Lahore-Wagah Samjhauta Express.

The cross LoC trade, which was started in October 2008, from the same route (Poonch-Rawalakot) and Uri-Muzafrabad was already suspended by the Indian government in April this year after the reports of ‘misuse’ of trade for terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

The government had suspended the trade saying that it would be reopened after reviewing the procedure and making it stricter.

The Poonch- Rawalakot Bus service was started in June 2006 for the divided families of Jammu and Kashmir and POK.