Authorities said on Tuesday that the strategic Jammu-Srinagar national highway was blocked due to a landslide in Ramban district.

A traffic department official said thousands of passengers, including women and children, were stranded when the landslide struck at Marog area on the crucial highway, the only road link that connects Kashmir with the rest of the country.
The official said the men and machinery are engaged in landslide clearance operation and efforts are afoot to ensure early restoration of traffic, they said.
“There is only one-way movement of traffic from Srinagar towards Jammu,” the official said.
He said police has appealed to the people to strictly follow the timely advisories and to contact Traffic Control Units (TCUs) before starting their journey on the highway.
He said security forces have been advised not to ply against traffic plan in view of traffic congestion on the highway and narrowness of bailey bridge at Kela morh, where main concrete bridge was damaged after a retaining wall collapsed on January 10 evening.
The baily bridge was installed by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) after National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) said it will take time to repair the damage. “Working on the retaining wall was going on, but it was not immediately clear when the work will be completed” he added.
Frequent closure of the highway since its expansion has been a major cause of concern for the people living in Kashmir valley, where suspension of traffic results in increase in the rates of essential commodities by any folds.
Meanwhile, the historic 86-km-long Mughal road, connecting Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu region with Shopian in south Kashmir and Anantnag-Sampthan-Kishtwar road remained closed since last week of December last year due to accumulation of snow and slippery conditions.The national highway, the only road linking Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh with Kashmir, has been closed since January 1 for winter months, he said. However, despite minus 30 degree temperature, work on Zojila tunnel to make it all weather road, was going on