Srinagar, (thestates.news) One-way traffic was on Sunday allowed to ply from Jammu to Srinagar
on 270-km-long national highway, the only road connecting Kashmir with rest of
the country, after the vehicles were allowed towards the winter capital for two
day.
‘One-way traffic will be allowed from Jammu to Srinagar on Sunday to ply on
Kashmir highway till further orders to avoid traffic jam and accidents,’ a
traffic police official told UNI.
Hundreds of passenger vehicles left Jammu early in the morning for Kashmir
valley. However, he said the vehicles will have to cross Nagrota before 1100
hrs after which they will not be allowed to move beyond that point. ‘No vehicle
will be allowed from opposite direction,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Heavy Motor Vehicles (HMVs), carrying essential commodities,
including vegetables, fuel and LPG cylinders, will be allowed to move towards
the valley in the afternoon. The drivers were asked to drive very slowly to
avoid any accident.
Traffic on the highway was allowed to ply from Srinagar to Jammu on Friday and
Saturday.
The Srinagar-Jammu highway was closed on Monday following heavy snowfall at
Qazigund, Jawahar tunnel, Banihal and Shaitan Nallah and fresh landslides and
shooting stone at over a dozen places between Ramban and Ramsu. But, the
National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) pressed into service sophisticated
machines and finally cleared snow and landslides and one-way traffic was
allowed from Srinagar to Jammu on Friday.
During the past few years, the highway frequently gets closed due to landslides
between Ramban and Ramsu, leading to acute shortage of essentials in Kashmir
valley, which is entirely dependent on imports from different states. The
prices of commodities are also going up after highway gets closed. Frequent
suspension of traffic on the highway has become a daily routine since NHAI
started road widening, particularly between Ramban and Ramsu.
Meanwhile, the highway, the only road connecting Union Territory (UT) Ladakh
with Kashmir and Mughal road, linking Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and
Poonch in Jammu region, and Anantnag-Kishtwar road also remained closed for the
past 40 days on Sunday due to snow and slippery conditions.
The 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh national highway and historic 86-km-long Mughal
road remained closed and there was no chance of reopening these roads before
April-May following heavy to very snowfall besides slippery conditions.uni
One-way traffic to ply from Jammu to Srinagar on Kashmir highway
