Traffic on Kashmir highway again disrupted due to landslides

Srinagar, Jan 19: Hundreds of vehicles, including those carrying passengers and trucks loaded with essentials for Kashmir valley got stranded on the 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway after traffic was disrupted again due to landslides at two different places.

One-way traffic was resumed this morning on the highway after remaining suspended for three days due to heavy snowfall and landslides. There were fresh landslides at Pantiyal and Sher Bibi on the other side of the Jawahar tunnel forcing authorities to suspend the traffic on the highway shortly before noon, a traffic police official told UNI. He said the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has already pressed into service sophisticated machines and men to clear the landslides. It may take a couple of hours to put through the traffic if there is no fresh landslides or shooting stones, he said.

Earlier, only one-way traffic from Jammu to Srinagar was allowed today, he said. However, no vehicle will be allowed from Srinagar to Jammu on the highway, the only road linking the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, he added. He said decision to allow traffic from both sides will be taken only after the weather and road conditions improve. Hundreds of vehicles, including those carrying passengers and trucks loaded with essentials, left Jammu this morning for the Kashmir valley, he said. Meanwhile, hundreds of vehicles stranded on the highway since January 16 following heavy snowfall were cleared yesterday till late in the night. Vehicles stranded at Banihal, Ramban and Ramsu and other places on both sides of the Jawhar tunnel have since reached their destination.

The highway was closed for traffic on January 16 due to overnight snow. However, the BRO, responsible for the maintenance of the highway put sophisticated machines and men to clear the snow and landslides.