The countdown for the removal of the controversial Article 35A in Jammu and Kashmir has started, according to top sources in the government.

Two days after National Security Adviser Ajit Doval returned from a visit to the Valley, the Centre has decided to move 10,000 additional paramilitary troops there to address the likely fallout of the move on the ground, sources said.

During his three-day tour, Doval had held detailed discussions with senior officers of the state administration, police, paramilitary forces, army, state and Central intelligence agencies, they said.

"An elaborate contingency plan has been worked out to take care of even the minutest details. How the law and order situation would behave, the response of the overground and underground separatist cadres and also the response of the mainstream political leadership.

"It is clear that nothing is being left to chance. The orders seem to be clear, violence and attempts to disrupt peace by anti-national elements, in the garb of a public outcry to oppose the abrogation of Article 35A, has to be contained and controlled so that the common man is put to least inconvenience.