Landslide blocks Doda-Batote Highway

The Doda-Batote National Highway was closed for vehicular traffic after a massive landslide damaged a large portion of the highway.
The highway was blocked after a landslide hit it damaging a stretch of 100 meters (at Chakwa bridge, 9 kilomters short of Doda) last evening, Superintendent of Police, Traffic National Highway Sanjay Kotwal said.
"The work to clear the national highway is on as around 100 meter stretch of the highway was badly damaged by the landslide," Kotwal said.
He said that though a few trucks loaded with essential supplies were stranded on the highway, the passengers were crossing the damaged stretch of the road by foot.

"Passengers are not stranded as they are crossing the damaged stretch by foot to take another vehicle from the other side," the SP said.
He said that the work to open the highway was going on and if the weather remains clear the road will be thrown open for vehicular traffic by today evening.

"If there is no rain, we might throw the road open by today evening, but the rainfall and continued landslides were creating problems for the road clearing operation," the SP said.
In view of the upcoming assembly elections in the area, the district election officer has expressed apprehensions that the delay in opening of the road might create problems for the election process.

"As of now there is no problem, but if the road continues to remain closed for long, there can be some problems, but we are hopeful that the road might be thrown open very soon," Deputy Commissioner Doda Shyam Vinod Meena told PTI.