SRINAGAR: Traffic was on Saturday restored after remaining closed for 28 hours due to shooting stones on the 270-km-long Jammu Srinagar National Highway, where 700 trucks and 40 SRTC buses were allowed to ply from Jammu to Srinagar.
Meanwhile, only essential service vehicles were allowed to move on the 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh national highway, connecting Ladakh with Kashmir valley.
”Srinagar-Jammu national highway, connecting Kashmir with rest of the country, was reopened for traffic at 1325 hrs on Saturday after remaining closed for 28 hours,” a traffic police official .
He said hundreds of vehicles were stranded on Friday after the highway was closed at around 0930 hrs due to frequent shooting stones at Cafeteria Morh and Panthal.
However, he said on Saturday afternoon stranded vehicles were allowed to ply from Jammu to Srinagar after getting green signal from the traffic police officials on the ground.
”Around 700 trucks and 40 SRTC busses, ferrying passengers, were moving towards Kashmir valley,” he said, adding that subject to weather and road conditions, traffic on the highway would be allowed from Srinagar to Jammu on Sunday.
The 434-km-long highway reopened on April 11 after remaining closed for the past about five months due to accumulation of snow and slippery road conditions. However, only vehicles carrying essentials, including petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders, were allowed to ply on the highway.
He said no passenger vehicles will be allowed on the highway, where health checkup for truckers and their helpers — while going to Ladakh and the way back — has been made mandatory to curtail spread of Coronavirus. ”Only a driver and a helper would be allowed with a truck, carrying essential commodities to the Union Territory of Ladakh,” he added.
”Due to the sub-zero temperature, trucks are being allowed to move to Leh UT, from 1000 hrs onwards,” he said, adding each truck will carry only 11 tones of load on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway, because of hilly, slippery terrain and weather vagaries. (AGENCIES)
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