SRINAGAR: Traffic was suspended on 270-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway on Friday for maintenance of only all weather road connecting the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.
No traffic was allowed from Srinagar or Jammu on the highway to allow National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to undertake weekly necessary maintenance and repair work on the road, which was frequently affected this winter due to landslides and shooting stones.
The UT Government later decided not to allow any traffic on Fridays for maintenance, a traffic police official said.
However, only one-way traffic is being allowed on other days in view of the traffic congestion on the highway and narrowness of Bailey bridge at Kela Morh, where the main concrete bridge was damaged after retaining wall collapsed on January 10.
Baily bridge was constructed by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) after NHAI said it will take about two weeks to repair the original bridge. The NHAI has yet to declare the main bridge open for normal traffic movement.
Meanwhile, the National Highway, the only road linking Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh with Kashmir valley also remained closed since January 1, due to accumulation of snow, particularly at Zojila pass, where construction of a tunnel was going on despite below freezing temperature to make it all weather road.
The historic 86-km-long Mughal road, connecting Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu and Anantnag-Kishtwar road, also remained closed since December last year due to accumulation of snow. (agencies)
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