Traffic was again suspended on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway due to fresh landslides and shooting stones on Monday night after clearing all the vehicles which were stranded for the past three days.
Night travel on Srinagar-Jammu highway has been banned as a precautionary measure following threat of avalanches and shooting stones.
The historic 86-km-long Mughal road and Anantnag-Kishtwar roads also remained closed due to accumulation of snow for the seventh day today, a traffic police official said this morning.
Meanwhile, the national highway, the only road connecting Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh region with the Kashmir valley, remained closed for the past seven days due to accumulation of several feet of snow and slippery road condition. The authorities on Monday airlifted over 700 stranded passengers from Ladakh and Srinagar.
Traffic on the national highway, the only all weather road, connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country was suspended last night following fresh landslides and shooting stones at several places, including Mompassi. However, he said, all the vehicles, which were stranded on the highway at different places for three days, were allowed to move towards their respective destinations before fresh landslides.
He said the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), responsible for the maintenance and widening of the highway, immediately pressed into service sophisticated machines and men to clear the landslides. The NHAI personnel worked throughout the night, he said.
He said it may take few more hours before allowing the traffic on the highway. However, only one-way traffic will be allowed from Srinagar to Jammu today when a green signal is received from NHAI and traffic police officials posted on the highway. No vehicle will be allowed from opposite direction, he said.
Traffic police had announced last night that vehicles will be allowed to ply from Srinagar to Jammu on Tuesday and Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) will have to cross Qazigund between 1300 hrs to 1600 hrs. The Heavy Motor Vehicles (HMVs) from 1600 hrs.
He said it has been decided not to allow any traffic movement on the highway during night as a precautionary measure due to threat of landslides and shooting stones. Recently a Deputy Inspector General (Operations) of CRPF for north Kashmir Shalinder Kumar and his driver Naveen were killed and security guard injured when their vehicle was hit by a landslide at Shaitannallah.
The Mughal road, linking Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region remained closed for the 7th day on Tuesday due to accumulation of snowfall and slippery road conditions , a traffic police official told UNI this morning.
The snow clearance operation was going on from both sides, he said adding there was several feet of snow accumulated on the Mughal road. Traffic on the road was allowed recently after remaining suspended since November 6 when there was heavy snowfall.
The road, which is also seen as alternative to Srinagar-Jammu national highway, remained closed during winter months due to about ten feet of snow and avalanches every year.