An early morning downpour on Saturday derailed the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) efforts to restore traffic on the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which remained closed for the fifth consecutive day.
NHAI Project Manager, Ramban sector, Shubam said efforts are going on at a war footing to clear the 250-metre stretch of the highway at Thard in Udhampur district which was buried under a hill.
“What we have gained during the day on Friday was washed away by intense half-an-hour rainfall this morning… we have mobilised the men and machinery and started the work afresh to ensure early reopening of the arterial road as soon as possible,” the official said.
He said they are expecting to clear the road later tonight or early next morning.
Barring this four-lane highway stretch, which is completely buried under a moving hill, the rest of the highway – the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country – has been cleared for two-way traffic, the official said.
The highway was closed for traffic amid heavy rain across the Jammu region early this week, following multiple landslides, mudslides and shooting stones from the hillocks overlooking the road besides washing away of road patches at different places between Udhampur and Banihal.
The highway remained closed for 5th consecutive day today.
The closure of the highway left hundreds of vehicles, mostly trucks, stranded on both sides, officials said.
A traffic department official said the Mughal Road — an alternate link connecting Poonch and Rajouri districts with south Kashmir’s Shopian district — is open for light motor vehicles.
The Kishtwar-Sinthan-Anantnag road, another alternate link, remained closed for the fourth day despite a massive road clearance operation.