SRINAGAR : The 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway was reopened for one-way traffic again this morning after all the stranded vehicles on both sides of the Jawahar tunnel were cleared till last night.
Only vehicles from Srinagar and other parts of the valley will be allowed to move towards Jammu, officials said adding that the vehicles have to cross the Jawahar tunnel before 1430 hrs. However, no vehicle will be allowed from Jammu to Kashmir.
Sources said that more than 1500 vehicles stranded on the highway were cleared till last night. The vehicles, including those carrying passengers and trucks loaded with essentials, which were stranded at Ramban, Ramsu and other areas on the highway, were allowed to proceed towards Kashmir after improvement in the weather yesterday, though there was slight snowfall.
Later, vehicles stranded on this side of the tunnel were cleared to Jammu.
Hundreds of vehicles, including passenger vehicles and empty trucks and those loaded with fruit left different parts of the valley towards Jammu today.
However, at Qazigund, the gateway of Kashmir on the highway, drivers were struggling to start their vehicles as diesel had frozen in the vehicle tanks after the minimum temperature dropped to minus 7.6 degree. They were seen burning wood and using other methods to defreeze the diesel to start journey towards Jammu. However, the vehicles were moving in a very slow speed because of slippery road conditions. (AGENCIES)
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