Hundreds of vehicles leave Jammu for Srinagar on Kashmir highway

File Photo

SRINAGAR : Hundreds of vehicles left Jammu for Kashmir on Sunday morning as only one-way traffic continued to ply on the 270-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only road connecting the valley with the rest of the country.
Meanwhile, the weekly maintenance and necessary repair day on Srinagar-Jammu national highway has been shifted from Friday’s to Thursday’s.
“One-way traffic from Jammu to Srinagar was plying normally on Sunday with some time restrictions,” a traffic police official said.
He said Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) will have to cross Nagrota (Jammu) between 0800 hrs and 1200 hrs. “The LMVs will have to cross Jakheni (Udhampur) between 0900 hrs and 1300 hrs,” he said, adding no vehicles will be allowed before and after cut off timing.
He said Heavy Motor Vehicles (HMVs) will be allowed from Jakheni (Udhampur) towards Kashmir after 1300 hrs.
He said the repair and maintenance day every week on Srinagar-Jammu national highway has been shifted from Friday to Thursday. The government had announced to allow weekly maintenance of the highway on every Friday, when traffic remained suspended for the past two months.
He said security forces are advised not to ply against traffic plan in view of traffic congestion on the highway and narrowness of bailey bridge at Kela morh, where main concrete bridge was damaged after a retaining wall collapsed on January 10 evening. The baily bridge was installed by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) after National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) said it will take about two weeks to repair the damage.
The historic 86-km-long Mughal road, connecting Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu region with Shopian in south Kashmir and Anantnag-Sampthan-Kishtwar road remained closed since last week of December last year due to accumulation of snow and slippery conditions. “The national highway, the only road linking Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh with Kashmir, has been closed since January 1 for winter months,” he said.
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