NH damaged, closed due to heavy landslides; 8000 vehicles stranded

Large number of vehicles stranded at Chanderkote near Ramban due to closure of National Highway on Saturday. -Excelsior/Parvaiz Mir
Large number of vehicles stranded at Chanderkote near Ramban due to closure of National Highway on Saturday. -Excelsior/Parvaiz Mir

3 dead in separate incidents
Shortage of LPG in Kashmir
Fayaz Bukhari/ Govind Sharma
SRINAGAR/JAMMU, Dec 21: The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, which was reopened this morning after remaining closed for over 17 hours due to fresh snowfall, was again closed this evening as heavy multiple landslides sank the highway at Digdol area of Ramban while as three persons including an eight-year-old boy were killed and two others injured in two separate incidents on the National Highway, last evening.
A Traffic official told Excelsior that the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was reopened this morning but no new vehicular traffic was allowed from either Jammu or Srinagar in the morning to facilitate smooth movement of thousands of stranded commuters.
He said two passengers, one eight-year-old Mohammad Muzamil of Budgam and other 20-year-old Mohammad Imran were killed and two others injured late last evening when a Jammu-bound passenger vehicle was hit by shooting stones from the hillock overlooking the highway near Gangroo in Ramban district.
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In another incident, the official said a truck driver Ghulam Mohammad Joo, a resident of Pulwama district, was killed last evening when he fell into a deep gorge while covering his truck with a sheet to save the loaded goods from the downpour near Nichilana.
“After remaining closed for about 17 hours since last evening, the highway was cleared this morning with only stranded vehicles allowed to move towards their destinations but heavy multiple landslides at Digdol at about 4 PM today damaged the highway after which it was closed again,” the official said, adding it will take at least 2-3 days to restore the traffic on National Highway, which sank due to landslides.
He said about 2500 Srinagar-bound trucks crossed the Jawahar tunnel since this morning and about 2000 are still stranded between Jammu and Banihal while around 7000 trucks are stranded in Qazigund area of Kashmir, leading to shortage of supplies especially the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in Kashmir.
A senior Indian Oil official said that 126 trucks of the company are stranded on the National Highway for last 11 days. He said that they have around 160 trucks catering for the entire Jammu and Kashmir and out of these 126 are stranded on the NH-44 at Qazigund and in Tamatar Morh in Kud area.
The official said that they have time and again raised the issue with the administration for giving preference to their trucks for plying on the NH so that the LPG supplies are not affected. He said that it also affects the functioning at the bottling plant in Jammu as no empty cylinders reach the plant for filling.
An Indian Oil LPG dealer in Kashmir told Excelsior that normally he gets 50-60 gas trucks a month but so far in 21 days of this month he has got only 12 LPG trucks. He said that there is Indian Oil LPG shortage in Kashmir. “It takes a truck these days to make two round trips a month due to road blockade”, he said.
The drivers on the highway, both at Qazigund and Tamatar Morh are living in pathetic conditions under sub-zero temperatures as the administration has failed to provide them succour. “We are shivering here at Qazigund for last one week. We don’t know when will Highway open? The administration is turning a blind eye towards our sufferings”, said a driver Gurnam Singh of Punjab.
In the meantime, there was improvement in weather today with temperatures showing some improvement bringing relief to the people from the intense cold weather conditions.
Srinagar recorded maximum of 6.6 degree Celsius and minimum of minus 0.4 degree Celsius. Gulmarg, the world famous ski resort, recorded minimum of minus 9.6 degree Celsius. Pahalgam recorded maximum of 5.8 degree Celsius and minimum of minus 3.0 degree Celsius. Qazigund maximum of 6.3 degree Celsius and minimum of minus 0.0 degree Celsius.
Kokernag recorded maximum of 3.7 degree Celsius and minimum of minus 1.0 degree Celsius. Kupwara had a maximum of 10.3 degree Celsius and minimum of minus 1.5 degree Celsius.
The highway town of Banihal, which received 1.5 cm of fresh snow, was the coldest place in Jammu region with a low of minus 0.5 degrees Celsius, a Meteorological department official said. He added that Jammu city recorded a minimum of 6.8 degrees Celsius – a dip of 1.4 degrees below the previous day. The residents, however, heaved a sigh of relief from the severe cold as the morning Sun appeared for the first time in five days.
Katra, the base camp for pilgrims visiting Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district, recorded a low of 7 degrees Celsius, the official said. Batote recorded maximum of 9.2 degree Celsius and minimum 0.2 degree Celsius. Bhaderwah had maximum of 9.4 and minimum of 0.6 degree Celsius.
Leh recorded maximum of 0.0 degree Celsius and minimum of minus 9.5 degree Celsius. Drass recorded maximum of minus 6.0 degree Celsius and minimum of minus 8.5 degree Celsius.

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