SRINAGAR: One-way traffic was on Wednesday resumed on the National Highway, the only all weather road connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, after remaining closed due to landslides and shooting stones.
Meanwhile, the Srinagar-Leh National Highway and historic 86-km-long Mughal and Anantnag-Kishtwar roads remained closed for the past 15 days due to the accumulation of several feet of snow and slippery road condition.
Traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu highway was suspended on Friday night after a portion of road was washed away due to landslides at Digdol.
However, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) immediately pressed into service sophisticated machines and men and finally put through the highway on Monday.
Later, Kashmir bound stranded vehicles, including those carrying passengers and essentials, were allowed to move. After clearing landslides at Digdol on Tuesday, vehicles stranded were allowed to leave for Jammu, a traffic police official said.
But, he said that after clearing about 2000 vehicles, mostly trucks carrying fruits, the highway was again closed due to fresh landslides at Chanderkote on Tuesday afternoon.
The NHAI worked throughout the night and cleared the landslides and one way traffic was resumed. There were about 3,000 Jammu bound trucks and other passenger vehicles besides security force vehicles stranded on this side of the Jawahar tunnel.
All these vehicles were allowed to move towards Jammu now. No vehicle would be allowed from opposite direction, he said. Meanwhile, he added that only one-way traffic would continue to ply on the highway till further orders to avoid traffic jam.
He appealed to people to strictly follow the advisory being issued by the traffic department daily. He urged people to contact Traffic Control Units (TCUs) at Srinagar, Jammu and Ramban before starting journey on the highway.
The historic Mughal road, linking Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region remained closed for the past 15 days due to accumulation of snowfall and slippery road conditions.
The 434-km-long National Highway, the only road connecting Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh with Kashmir also remained closed for the past 15 days due to accumulation of snow and slippery road conditions. (agencies)
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