SRINAGAR: Hundreds of vehicles, including those carrying passengers, remained stranded at several places on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, which remained closed for the 7th day today due to landslides.
The authorities arranged special air sorties for passengers stranded in Kashmir today. Meanwhile, about hundred passengers, mostly youths having very less luggage, covered the most affected portion of the highway between Ramban and Ramsu on foot to reach their destinations.
However, thousands of passengers, including woman and children, who had left Jammu on the morning of March 12, after the highway was opened briefly, are stranded at different places on the highway, particularly at Ramban, Ramsu and Batote.
The stranded passengers alleged that local administration was missing and they were provided meals by local Darul-Uloom at Ramban. The highway remained closed due to landslides at several places between Ramban and Ramsu, particularly at Penthal, a traffic police official said.
He said vehicles which had left Jammu on March 12 for Kashmir, have been stopped at safe places on the highway.
However, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), responsible for the maintenance of the highway and National High Authority of India (NHAI) are working round the clock to put through the highway, the only road linking the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.
He said traffic on the highway was allowed from Jammu to Srinagar on March 12 after four-day closure, only to suspend again in the afternoon due to fresh landslides.
Several thousand Kashmir-bound passengers, including women and children, had to spent night in their vehicles or open sky on the highway, as there was no arrangement from the authorities, alleged the passengers.
The traffic police official said that traffic on the highway will be resumed only after receiving green signal from the BRO and traffic police officials posted at different places.
However, no fresh vehicle will be allowed from Srinagar or Jammu until all stranded passengers are cleared, he said. A passenger Parvez Ahmad Dar, who along with about 100 passengers covered the damaged portion of the road on foot, said at several places the road has been totally washed away.
The BRO men are working to rebuilt the road, he added. Dar, who reached home late last night, said they left the vehicle they had boarded from Jammu at Ramban, only to board another vehicle at Ramsu for Kashmir.
Javid Saleem, another passenger, said he and hundreds of others, including women and children, were stranded at Ramban. ”We could not go back to Jammu since there was a landslide,” he added.
Meanwhile, hundreds of vehicles, particularly empty trucks and oil tankers, have been stopped at Qazigund and other places on this side of the tunnel, due to closure of the highway.
Truckers stranded for the past about one week alleged that besides financial loss, they are facing acute shortage of essentials, particularly rice and vegetables.
Traffic on the highway remained disrupted frequently since first major snowfall on January 6. However, despite putting all out efforts by BRO, only one-way traffic could be restored on the highway. Meanwhile, the historic Mughal road, connecting Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region, also received fresh snowfall since last night.
The road, which is seen as alternative to the Srinagar-Jammu national highway remained closed since January only to reopen in April-May.
There was no relief for the people living in dozens of far flung and remote village in border area of Gurez as road to district headquarter Bandipora remained closed due to accumulation of snow.
The road is expected to reopen only in April-May after remaining closed since January this year.
The national highway, linking Ladakh region with Kashmir also remained closed for the past three months due to snow, particularly at Zojila, Zero point and Meenmarg.
(AGENCIES)
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