SRINAGAR: The Karvan-e-Aman bus, operating between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) , left here on Monday morning to cross over to other side of the Line of Control (LoC) at Uri, official sources said.
The weekly bus left Bemina, Srinagar, this morning despite minus 6.8 degree minimum temperature, they said.
The bus has since reached Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC), at Uri where more passengers will board it before leaving for Kaman post, the last Indian military post on this side of the LoC in Uri sector, they said adding exact number of passengers travelling to other side of the border will be known in the afternoon.
Similary, they said, the number of passengers travelling from POK will be known in the evening.
The number of visitors from POK drops during the winter when temperature goes down in Kashmir. However, number of guests increases during the summer when weather remaines pleasant. Similarly, Kashmiris visiting POK increases during winter.
The bus,which was introduced on April 7, 2005 has helped thousands of families to meet each other after India and Pakistan agreed to allow to travel through Uri route on Travel Permits instead of International passports.
However, only state subjects from both sides are eligible to travel after their names are cleared by the intelligence agencies from both sides. Earlier, these families used to travel on International passport via Delhi by air or Wagah border in Punjab. (AGENCIES)
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