Government officials on Sunday said banks and ATMs remained open on Sunday and that six mandis (wholesale markets) and markets had been established in Srinagar city, with 2.5 lakh sheep made available for sacrifice during Id.

The authorities have deployed mobile vans for door-to-door delivery of vegetables, cooking gas cylinders, poultry and eggs, an official said.

“Everything is peaceful. The restrictions have eased and there has been a lot of improvement in public and transport movement,” Srinagar deputy commissioner Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said.

An official spokesperson said magistrates had been deployed at every critical place to act as facilitators for the public.

The administration has issued an advisory saying 300 special telephone booths are being established to help people communicate with their relatives.

“Every day, some or other restriction is being relaxed. We will take decisions on lifting restrictions on phones as early as possible,” an official said, requesting anonymity.

But traders said they were suffering losses because of the poor business this Id.

Bashir Ahmed, a livestock dealer from Poonch, Jammu, had come to the Valley with his herd of goats and sheep to sell them in the run-up to Id. He said he expected to take most of them back with him.

“Around this time last year, I had sold my entire herd and was heading home to celebrate Id with my family. This year I have sold only 15 of the 200-odd goats I had brought along,” Ahmed said.

With curbs on movement, the livestock dealer is also struggling to find food for his herd.

Kashmiris returning for Id found it a struggle to make their way home from the airport. A few buses were on standby but these were going only as far as the tourist reception centre at Dalgate.

Taxi drivers were refusing to go to areas like Civil Lines at Lal Chowk, 14km from the airport, complaining that on their return journey they would be detained or harassed by security forces.