SRINAGAR: Traffic on the national highway, connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, was suspended on Wednesday following fresh landslides triggered by heavy rain, a traffic police official said. Meanwhile, the national highway, the only road linking Ladakh region with Kashmir, was closed on Wednesday due to fresh snowfall and slippery road condition, a traffic police official said..
Historic 86-km-long Mughal road, linking Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region, was closed for traffic movement due to landslides and felling of trees. Efforts are being made to remove tree and landslides on the road.
“We have suspended traffic movement on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway following fresh landslides at Penthal and Digdol due to heavy rain,” traffic police official said.
He said the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), responsible for maintenance and widening of the highway have pressed into service sophisticated machines and men to clear the landslides.
However, intermittent shooting stones are hampering the landslides clearing operation, he said.
He said decision to allow stranded vehicles to move towards their respective destination will be taken only after getting green signal from the traffic official posted at different places.
Traffic on the highway was suspended a day after Advisor to the Governor K K Sharma, accompanied by Advisor K Vijay Kumar travelled by road from Udhampur to Kashmir in order to get first hand information about the condition of the highway, the only road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country.
An official spokesman said during their travel, the Advisors met several officers and conducted inspections en route and directed the concerned to work in a coordinated manner so that the construction work on Udhampur Chenani section, Nashri to Ramban section and Ramban to Banihal section gets completed within the stipulated time so that the commuters commuting on this prestigious and important roadway do not face any kind of inconvenience.
The Advisor also called for undertaking immediate measures for restorations of the slopes along with the way which would ensure that the debris coming on the road would also be checked. He added that it is the major cause of frequent road-blockades and if managed professionally it would lessen the frequency of the blocks.
The Advisor Sharma directed the officers for exploring the options to find the permanent solutions to the road blockade problem by looking into the possibilities of constructing tunnels and bi-ducts by realigning the proposed alignment at the vulnerable points, so that the risk factor could be minimised.
He said that for the purpose of the construction agency can seek professional help from the NHAI and actively involve various stakeholders as well.
The Advisor Sharma directed for strict implementation of improvement of the riding surface so that wear and tear of the vehicle plying on these is reduced to a great extent, besides, it will also ensure their better stability which would result in less fuel consumption and would greatly nullify the occurrence of accidents on the Highway.
Meanwhile, there was fresh snowfall in the wee hours from Sonmarg to Drass, including Zojilla, Zero point and Minimarg forcing suspension of the traffic. The road has also become very slippery due to snow, traffic police official said.
The officials said weather has improved and snow has started melting.
He added, traffic will be resumed only after receiving green signal from Beacon and traffic police officials posted at different places.
The highway remained closed for about five winter months due to accumulation of snow. After initially allowing only one-way traffic, now vehicles are being allowed to ply from both sides. However, in the morning traffic is allowed from Ladakh region to Kashmir and later from valley to other side of the Zojila in the afternoon.
(AGENCIES)
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