One-way traffic to continue on Kashmir highway

SRINAGAR : Only one-way traffic will continue on the 300-km-long national highway, linking the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, a traffic police official said.
Traffic will ply from Srinagar to Jammu today and no vehicle will be allowed from the opposite direction, he said.
Hundreds of vehicles, particularly empty trucks and oil tankers, stranded at Qazigund and other places since February 27, left for Jammu this morning.
However, the vehicles had to cross Jawahar tunnel by 1400 hrs, he said, adding that no vehicle will be allowed after the deadline.
He said the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), responsible for the maintenance of the highway, was working to make the highway safe for two-way traffic.
The road is still narrow due to landslides at some places, particularly between Ramban and Ramsu at some places, where only one vehicle could pass.
For the safety of passenger and truckers besides avoid traffic jam, it has been decided to allow only one-way traffic on the highway till further orders.
Meanwhile, large number of Kashmir bound oil tankers and trucks, including those carrying essentials, are stranded at different places, including Nagrota for the past three days as only light vehicles were allowed to ply from Jammu to Srinagar yesterday when the highway reopened after remaining closed on February 28 due to landslides at Mehar Ramban.
Traffic on the Kashmir highway has been disrupted frequently due to snowfall and landslides besides slippery road conditions since first heavy snowfall on January 6.
Meanwhile, the historic Mughal road, which is seen as alternative to highway, connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country remained closed since first week of January.
Dozens of far-flung and remote areas, particularly near the Line of Control (LoC), also remained cut off from their respective district headquarters in north Kashmir, where fresh snowfall was experienced during the night intervening February 28 and March I.
The Ladakh region also remained cut off from Kashmir due to closure of the highway since last year due to accumulation of snow. There was also fresh snowfall at Sonmarg and Gagangeer besides Zojila pass yesterday. (AGENCIES)

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