Historic Mughal road reopens after 4 months

Srinagar, Apr 23: The historic Mughal road, connecting Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region, was reopened today, after remaining closed for more than four months due to snow accumulation. Meanwhile, there was no respite for the residents of far-flung and remote areas, including those near the Line of Control (LoC), which remained cut off from their respective district headquarters due to accumulation of snow since January this year.

Only one-way traffic will be allowed on Srinagar-Jammu national highway, linking the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country till further orders and today, vehicles will ply from Poonch to Srinagar, a traffic police official told UNI.

Vehicles had to cross through 5-7 feet of snow on both sides, they said, adding that traffic will be allowed to ply only between 0900 hrs to 1700 hrs. Night traffic on the road will not be allowed at any cost as a precautionary measure, the official said. No traffic will be allowed from opposite direction, he said adding there was rain on this side of the Jawahar tunnel though weather was dry on the other side.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), responsible for the maintenance of the highway, has been working to restore two-way traffic. Traffic on the highway was frequently disrupted due to first heavy snowfall on January 6. However since then, only one-way traffic is allowed on the highway. Snow clearance operation was going on to restore traffic to far-flung and remote areas, including border town of Gurez, which remained closed since January.