Process of removing 16 security bunkers from Srinagar underway

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday started the process of removing 16 security bunkers from Srinagar city as part of the Centre's peace initiatives to reach out to the people of the Valley.

The decision to remove the bunkers was taken at a meeting of the Unified Headquarters here last week as part of the Centre's eight-point Kashmir peace initiative.

The bunkers will be removed from Anganwadi centre Wanihama, BD school Batmaloo, Sonawar, Janab Sahib Soura, Hazratbal, PHC Palpora, Magarmal crossing, Agricultural University Shalimar, DAV School Wazirbagh, SDPT Aloochibagh, Miskinbagh, Firdausabad in Batamaloo, Sazgiripora, Sumkachbal, Common Dental College Karanagar, Bone and Joint Hospital in Barzulla.

As part of its initiative to address the unrest in the Kashmir valley, the Centre had decided to appoint a group of interlocutors to hold a "sustained dialogue" with various shades of opinion, to release about 200 youth detained for stone-pelting and de-scale the presence of security personnel.

It had also requested the state government to review the deployment of security forces in the Kashmir Valley with particular reference to de-scaling the number of bunkers, check-points etc. in Srinagar and other towns, and to review the notification of areas as 'disturbed areas'.