SRINAGAR: The 270-km-long Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the only all weather road connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, was closed yet again on Thursday due to fresh landslides and shooting stones.
”Traffic on the highway was suspended again this morning due to fresh landslides and shooting stones at Panthyal,” a traffic police official said.
About 2000 Kashmir-bound vehicles, including SRTC buses ferrying stranded people and trucks carrying essential commodities, were stranded between Ramban and Jawahar Tunnel due to the closure of the highway.
However, he said the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has already pressed into service sophisticated machines and men to clear the landslides, adding continued shooting stones were hampering the operation. ”Traffic will be resumed only after receiving a green signal from NHAI and traffic police officials posted at different places on the highway,” he said.
Only essential service vehicles and SRTC buses, ferrying stranded passengers who were returning from different parts of the country, have been allowed to ply on the highway in view of nation-wide lockdown to curtail the spread of COVID-19. (agencies)
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