SRINAGAR: Only stranded vehicles will ply from Srinagar to Jammu for the second consecutive day on Thursday and no vehicle will be allowed from opposite direction, official sources said this morning.
The national highway, the only road linking Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh with Kashmir and historic 86-km-long Mughal and Anantnag-Kishtwar roads remained closed for the past 16 days on Thursday due to accumulation of several feet of snow and slippery road condition.
The traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu highway was suspended on Tuesday afternoon due to fresh landslides and shooting stones at Chanderkote. However, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) cleared the landslides and one-way traffic from Srinagar to Jammu was resumed on Wednesday .
More than 6,000 Jammu-bound vehicles, mostly trucks and those carrying passenger were stranded between Qazigund and Banihal. However, due to slippery road conditions and massive traffic jam for hrs, only 2000 to 3000 vehicles could cross the landslide prone areas till late last night.
Sources said since there are about 4000 Jammu-bound vehicles still stranded on this side of the Jawahar tunnel, it was decided to allow traffic from here to winter capital for the second day on Thursday also. However, due to slippery road conditions drivers have been asked to drive very slowly to avoid any accident.
They said no vehicle will be allowed from opposite direction. However, drivers and passengers, travelling on the highway alleged that due to slippery road conditions vehicles were moving in a very low speed. But, they said, at some places there was traffic jam for hours when vehicles were allowed from opposite direction also.
Meanwhile, traffic police official said that only one-way traffic will continue to ply on the highway till further orders. He appealed to people to strictly follow the advisory being issued daily by the traffic department. He urged people to contact Traffic Control Units (TCUs) at Srinagar, Jammu and Ramban before starting journey on the highway.
The 434-km-long national highway, the only road connecting Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh with Kashmir also remained closed for the past 16 days due to accumulation of snow and slippery road conditions.
The historic Mughal road, linking Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region remained closed for the past 16 days on Thursday due to accumulation of snowfall and slippery road conditions. (agencies)
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