Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Mar 7: Wearing Modi masks and chanting his name, scores of people from across Jammu and Kashmir today reached Srinagar’s Bakshi Stadium here to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally.
Hundreds of BJP supporters, wearing tricoloured turbans, also reached the venue while security personnel had a tough time managing the crowd.
Officials said tight security arrangements were in place but there were no restrictions on the movement of people.
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Life was normal across the Kashmir valley and most of the shops and other business establishments were open here, the officials said.
They said there were no restrictions on the movement of the people in any part of the Valley, except for traffic diversions around the venue of the PM’s rally.
“People are being allowed to move and there are no restrictions anywhere in Kashmir. The Traffic Police has announced some diversions for traffic around the venue, but other than that, there are no restrictions on the movement of the people,” they added.
Traffic movement on the city’s Jehangir Chowk to Rambagh and Rajbagh to LD Hospital-Tulsi Bagh route has been restricted from 4 am to 7 pm given the VVIP visit, the officials said.
They said the Jahangir Chowk-Solina-Ram Bagh stretch also remained restricted for the civilian traffic movement.
Similarly, Raj Bagh-LD Hospital-Tulsi Bagh besides Gupkar Road up to the All India Radio Srinagar office was also restricted for civilian traffic movement.
However, the officials said all medical emergencies were facilitated with access through the shortest possible route.
The security apparatus has secured the road from Badamibagh Cantonment to Bakshi Stadium. Tricolours, BJP flags and hoardings welcoming Modi had been put up along the route taken by Modi.
Stringent security arrangements were put in place to ensure an incident-free visit, they said.
Security personnel were deployed in large numbers along the routes taken by Modi in Srinagar while barricades were set up at several places, they said.
Drones and CCTV cameras were used for surveillance while foot patrolling by the security forces had been intensified in a two-kilometre radius around the venue, officials said.
Marine commandos had also been deployed in Jhelum River and Dal Lake to prevent the use of the water bodies for any subversive activities, the officials said.
Several schools in Srinagar were closed for two days, while board examinations scheduled to be held on Thursday were postponed till next month.
However, the officials said parents and guardians of the students appearing for the CBSE exams were urged to accompany their wards.
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