SRINAGAR : The national highway, connecting the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, was closed today due to fresh snowfall.
Hundreds of vehicles, including those carrying passengers, were stranded on this side of the Jawahar tunnel. A traffic department official told that Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only road connecting the valley with the rest of the country, was closed due to fresh snowfall on both sides of the tunnel, Banihal and Qazigund.
He said it was heavily snowing on the highway. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), responsible for the maintenance of the highway have pressed into service sophisticated machines to clear the snow. Following forecast of moderate to heavy snowfall from today till February 3, the Traffic Police has issued an advisory to people in general and passengers and drivers in particular not to start their journey on the highway from Jammu to Srinagar and vice versa without confirming the road and weather status from Traffic Control . This advisory has been issued on the basis of weather reports which predict moderate to heavy snowfall especially in Banihal to Jawahar Tunnel sector and Jawahar Tunnel to Qazigund sector from today till February 3, 2015. Besides, heavy to moderate rainfall in Ramban area, which may trigger landslides on the highway between Ramban-Ramsoo sector. The national highway, connecting the Ladakh with Kashmir and Mughal road also remained closed since December last year due to snowfall and slippery road conditions. A number of roads, connecting far flung and remote areas near the Line of Control (LoC) were also closed due to snowfall.
(AGENCIES)
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