Authorities in Kashmir said on Wednesday that thousands of vehicles that were stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway due to bad weather condition were cleared.
The clearance operation took place despite shooting stones and rocks sliding intermittently from a hillock overlooking the strategic road in Ramban area.
The 270-km highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, was closed for vehicular traffic Tuesday morning following multiple landslides in Digdole area of Ramban district.
The highway was reopened for vehicles early Wednesday after a 15-hour clearance operation but a fresh slide and intermittent shooting of stones hampered the movement of traffic, the officials said.
"The movement of vehicles was better compared to the previous couple of days. Over 4,000 stranded vehicles were cleared from both sides during the day," a senior traffic police official said.
Vehicles on the highway usually run alternatively from the twin capitals of Srinagar and Jammu in view of the ongoing four-laning.
Residents blamed construction companies for the frequent closure of the highway, alleging that the poorly planned and slow pace of work are the main reasons for the present status of the highway.
Several videos, meanwhile, are making rounds on the social media showing stranded commuters risking their lives to cross the landslide-hit areas.
"We are taking extreme precautions while allowing the vehicles through the problematic zones," Sharma said, requesting the commuters to cooperate with the traffic police to avoid any untoward incident.