No fresh traffic allowed on Jammu-Srinagar NH for second day

No fresh traffic was allowed on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway for the second day on Monday to facilitate clearance of stranded vehicles including trucks carrying essential commodities to Kashmir Valley, officials said.

The highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, has witnessed frequent disruptions over the past week due to multiple landslides and shooting stones triggered by incessant rains between Ramban and Banihal.

"Amid improvement in weather, the road was cleared for stranded vehicles this morning and traffic was presently moving smoothly towards Kashmir," an official of the traffic department said.

He said the road was cleared of the debris by Sunday afternoon but fresh sliding of stones at several places forced suspension of the traffic in the evening.

With no overnight rains, the clearance operation was intensified and the road was made traffic worthy again, leading to resumption of traffic, the official said, adding minor incidents of shooting stones from hillocks overlooking the highway caused some disruptions but overall the traffic is moving smoothly.

He said no fresh traffic was allowed either from Jammu or Srinagar for the second consecutive day on Monday.

The traffic on the highway is restricted to one-way since December last year as part of the winter arrangement to avoid traffic snarls in view of the ongoing work on the four-laning highway project.

"A decision to allow normal traffic on the highway from Tuesday will be taken after fresh review of the road condition later in the day," the official said.

Two persons were killed and several others injured when their vehiclescame under rolling boulders in Ramban district over the past two days.