One-way traffic from Jammu to Srinagar resumes on highway

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SRINAGAR : One-way traffic was resumed on Saturday from Jammu to Srinagar on the national highway, after remaining suspended on Friday for maintenance.
Despite opening of concrete bridge at Kela Morh ,which was damaged on January 10 after a retaining wall collapsed, only one-way traffic will continue to ply on the highway till further orders, official sources said.
The bridge was declared open by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) on Saturday after the Bailey bridge, constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to allow traffic on the highway, was dismantled yesterday.
Traffic department had last evening said that in view of the dismantling of Bailey bridge and restoration of traffic via old bridge at Kela Morh, decision regarding traffic movement will be decided on Friday morning after assessing the situation.
”We allowed Jammu to Srinagar traffic today”, traffic official said, adding that no vehicle will be allowed from opposite direction.
No traffic was allowed on Friday on the highway to allow NHAI to undertake weekly necessary maintenance and repair work on the road, which was frequently affected this winter due to landslides and shooting stones. The UT government later decided not to allow any traffic on Fridays for maintenance.
Meanwhile, the national highway, the only road linking Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh with Kashmir valley also remained closed since January 1, 2021 due to accumulation of snow, particularly at Zojila pass, where construction of a tunnel was going on despite below freezing temperature to make it all weather road.
The historic 86-km-long Mughal road, connecting Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu and Anantnag-Kishtwar road, also remained closed since December last year due to accumulation of snow. (AGENCIES)