J-K: Jawahar Tunnel tube reopens for traffic

One of the two tubes of the Jawahar Tunnel along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway reopened today after repairs, while traffic movement on the arterial road was disrupted for several hours as incessant rains triggered mudslides and shooting stones at several places, officials said.

The repair work, carried out jointly by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and Navyug Engineering, a private firm, was completed early today, but the tube was opened for traffic around 1.30 pm after safety checks, they said.

The tube had been closed around 7:30 am yesterday after seeping caused loose rocks to fall through an unlined area within the tunnel, also causing some cracks.

Vehicular movement on the Jammu-Srinagar highway was disrupted for five hours after heavy rains triggered a mudslide at Seri and shooting of stones from a hillock at Panthiyal.

The all weather road link between Kashmir and the rest of the country was closed again for two hours after a landslide in Seri at around 1:40 pm.

Traffic movement on the highway has been restored and the convoy of Amarnath Yatra pilgrims have crossed the Jawahar Tunnel, the officials said.

The Jawahar Tunnel was constructed in the 1950's for round-the-year surface transport and has been operational since December 1956.