{"id":19099,"date":"2026-05-06T17:58:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/?p=19099"},"modified":"2026-05-06T17:58:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:58:47","slug":"smart-city-bus-row-kashmir-transporters-threaten-indefinite-strike-from-may-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/06\/smart-city-bus-row-kashmir-transporters-threaten-indefinite-strike-from-may-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart City bus row : Kashmir transporters threaten indefinite strike from May-12"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Srinagar, May 06:\u00a0<\/strong>Days after a Valley-wide \u201cchakka jam\u201d over the Smart City bus row, transporters in Kashmir on Wednesday announced an indefinite strike from May 12, warning of a complete halt in public transport if the government fails to address their demands.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, Transport Association Kashmir President Shabir Matta said the decision follows continued \u201cinaction\u201d by the authorities despite repeated outreach by transport bodies after the April 20 shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have given the government time till May 11. If our genuine demands are not met, the entire Kashmir will observe a chakka jam from May 12,\u201d Matta said.<\/p>\n<p>He said transporters from South, North and Central Kashmir had attempted to engage with the administration through visits and public outreach but received no response. \u201cHad the government called us for talks earlier, this situation would not have arisen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Matta said the protest is driven by \u201csurvival concerns\u201d of thousands associated with the sector. \u201cWe are not against the government or development. But our employment is being snatched. First save our livelihood, then we can discuss other issues,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Referring to the April 20 strike, he acknowledged the hardship caused to the public, particularly students and patients. \u201cWe understand people suffered; students missed exams and patients faced difficulties. We don\u2019t want to repeat that, but we are being forced,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The transport leader reiterated concerns over the expansion of Smart City bus services into routes traditionally operated by private transporters, alleging that local stakeholders are being sidelined in the process.<\/p>\n<p>He urged the government to initiate dialogue, stating that the sector supports thousands of drivers, conductors and vehicle owners across the Valley. \u201cWe want to work with the government, not against it. But if ignored, we will be compelled to intensify agitation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Transport bodies have further appealed to operators across Kashmir to support the proposed strike, which, if implemented, is likely to severely disrupt daily life, affecting commuters, students and patients across the Valley.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, as already reported by KNO, a Valley-wide \u201cchakka jam\u201d on April 20 had paralysed public transport across Kashmir, leaving commuters stranded and forcing authorities, including Kashmir University, to make alternate arrangements for affected students<strong>\u2014(KNO)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Srinagar, May 06:\u00a0Days after a Valley-wide \u201cchakka jam\u201d over the Smart City bus row, transporters in Kashmir on Wednesday announced an indefinite strike from May 12, warning of a complete halt in public transport if the government fails to address their demands. Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, Transport Association Kashmir President Shabir Matta said the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19099"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19101,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19099\/revisions\/19101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}