Saturday, March 12 2005 20:28 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: With less than a month left for the inaugural run of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus across the Line of Control (LoC), Pakistan today (March 12, 2005) announced that passengers intending to travel by the bus could obtain the forms in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) from Monday (March 14, 2005).

Application forms for the travellers on the bus service shall be available with the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Muzaffarabad, the Designated Authority, as well as other Deputy Commissioners in the respective districts of POK from March 14, an official announcement by the Pakistan Foreign office in Islamabad said.

The Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service, agreed upon between the two countries during the visit of the Indian External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh to Pakistan, shall commence from 7 April 2005.

The Regional Passport Office in Srinagar has been designated by India for issuing and processing applications of Indians to travel by the bus.

After collecting the forms, the two sides will submit them to each other for clearance and those cleared by the other side will be issued special permits.

The permit is restricted for travel in undivided Jammu and Kashmir State, which included Gilgit and Baltistan under the control of Pakistan.

Officials from both sides have clarified that there was no need for passports and visas to travel in the bus, which will run every fortnight.

Both sides have been making arrangements to re-lay the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, which was not used since 1947. This included repair of few bridges, which was expected to be completed before April 7.