Civilian traffic suspended on Jammu-Srinagar national highway

Civilian traffic on the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway was suspended on Monday to allow smooth passage of security convoys and to facilitate maintenance of the road damaged by recent landslides, traffic department officials said.

"No civilian vehicle was allowed to ply on the highway from either Srinagar or Jammu this morning to allow smooth passage of security convoys and to carry out some repair work on the road damaged by recent landslides in the Ramban sector," a traffic department official said.

He said security convoys were allowed from both sides and are likely to complete their journey by 4 pm, after which civilian traffic would be resumed.

Meanwhile, efforts are on to restore the 434-km Srinagar-Leh National highway -- the only road linking Ladakh with Kashmir -- and Mughal road which connects the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu region with south Kashmir's Shopian district.

While Srinagar-Leh highway was closed for vehicular traffic on November 27 following heavy snowfall at Zojilla pass and adjoining areas, the Mughal road was closed on November 6 after the high altitude areas including Pir Ki Gali along the road experienced heavy snowfall.

"The Mughal road was cleared of the snow after several weeks of hectic efforts on November 26 but a fresh spell of snowfall hampered the efforts of its early reopening," the official said, adding that men and machines are on the job to clear the road of the snow.

Both the roads usually remain closed for winter months owing to heavy snowfall.