SRINAGAR : Fresh avalanche delayed trial run on the national highway, connecting Ladakh region with the Kashmir valley while only one-way traffic will continue on the Srinagar-Jammu and historic Mughal road.
Meanwhile, massive snow clearance operation is going on to connect dozens of cut-off far flung and remote villages, including near the Line of Control (LoC) with their respective district headquarters in north Kashmir.
The snow clearance operation was almost over on the Leh highway and it was decided to conduct trial run between Sonamarg and Drass, official sources said. However, due to fresh avalanche at Zojila pass, the trial was delayed, they said adding the BEACON have already on the job to clear the avalanche.
Once trial will be conducted and damaged portion of the road repaired, normal traffic will be resumed on the highway, closed since December last year due to snowfall and slippery road conditions.
There was six to ten feet of snow on the highway during this winter, they said adding sophisticated machines and men were pressed into service to clear the snow. Chairman of Legislative Council (LC) who visited Zero Point on the highway expressed concern over delay in reopening of the highway.
Hundreds of vehicles, including those carrying essentials, left Jammu this morning for Srinagar, a traffic police official told UNI.
He said no vehicle will be allowed from opposite direction as only one-way traffic will continue till further orders. However, he said, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was already working to repair the damaged road and allow two-way traffic on the highway, the only road linking the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.
Since January this year only one-way traffic is allowed on the highway which was damaged at several places due to landslides, triggered by rain and snow.
Only one-way traffic will continue on 86-km-long historic Mughal road, connecting Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region .
Today traffic will ply from Shopian to Rajouri and Poonch while no vehicle will be allowed from opposite direction .
(AGENCIES)
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