Srinagar: The 270-km-long Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the only all weather road connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, was closed on Sunday for road maintenance.
No traffic was allowed on Kashmir highway on Sunday after clearing all the Jammu-bound stranded vehicles late last night following clearing of landslides at various places.
Meanwhile, repair work was going on war-footing after snow clearance operation was completed earlier this week on Srinagar-Leh national highway, which remained closed for the past about three months due to accumulation of about ten to 12 feet of snow and avalanche threat. The snow clearance operation was also started on the historic 86-km-long Mughal road that remained closed due to accumulation of snow for the past about three months.
“There will be no vehicular movement, including security forces, on either side on the national highway due to maintenance of the road,” a traffic police official told UNI.
Traffic on the highway was suspended on Saturday due to fresh landslides at several places in Banihal, including Hingni. Hundreds of Jammu-bound vehicles, including the ones carrying passengers, were stranded at various places on the highway due to the closure of the highway.
However, he said the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) pressed into service sophisticated machines and cleared the landslides. “Traffic was resumed late in the evening after receiving a green signal from NHAI and traffic police officials posted at different places on the highway,” he said.
He said all the vehicles were cleared till 0100 hrs last night. Only one-way traffic has been allowed to ply on the highway as the road is very narrow and damaged at several places between Ramban and Ramsu where only one vehicle could pass easily.
Frequent closure of the highway since its expansion has been a major cause of concern for the people living in Kashmir valley, where suspension of traffic results in increase in the rates of essential commodities by any folds.
