Mubashir Bukhari
Srinagar: Over 500 vehicles, including trucks and passenger vehicles, are stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway as the only surface route connecting Kashmir Valley with rest of the country remained closed for third consecutive day today due to landslides and shooting stones at many places.
The stranded vehicles included 130 passenger ones, according to officials.
The highway has been closed since March 12 after landslides and shooting stones hit the arterial road in the Ramban district.
IGP (Traffic), Jammu and Kashmir, T Namgyal told NVI that clearance operations are still on. “Efforts are on to clear the road which has been blocked by fresh landslides and shooting,” he said.
He said once the road is cleared,only stranded vehicles will be allowed to move.
According to the traffic officials, due to rainfall last night, the traffic was blocked at Kunfar Nalla and Dugi Pull at Ramban on Srinagar-Jammu highway.
“Mudslides and shooting stones blocked highway at Marog and Monkey Morh. Heavy slides at Iron stand and shooting stones at Digdol, Gujjar Morh shooting stones blocked the highway,” officials said.
The landslides also blocked highway at Digdol, Panthyal, Mompasi and Hingani in Ramban sector.
On March 8, A truck driver from Rajasthan was killed and six persons, including three CRFP personnel, were injured as rolling boulders from hillocks hit vehicles and also disrupted traffic along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.
