Jammu, February 1: The Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only all-weather surface link between Kashmir and rest of the country, was closed for vehicular traffic for the second consecutive day on Friday due to fresh snow and landslides, officials said.
Due to fresh snow and landslides in the Jawahar tunnel-Banihal-Ramban section and a landslide on the Ramban stretch, the highway was closed for vehicular traffic, they said.
“There was fresh snow and also landslides on the highway in the Pantiyal-Battery Cheshma-Ramban sector. Restoration work at several places is going on despite shooting of stones at Battery Cheshma, Anokhi, Digdool and Pantiyal,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Suresh Sharma said.
Snowfall was continuing till afternoon in Banihal and Jawahar tunnel areas, Sharma said. “No vehicle was allowed to move towards the Kashmir Valley from Nagrota traffic check post in Jammu,” a traffic police officer said. The men and machinery of the Border Roads Organisation are working to clear the highway, he said.
The Mughal road, an alternative road connecting Kashmir’s Shopian district with Poonch district of the Jammu region, has been closed for over a fortnight due to snowfall, the official said.
The Jammu-Srinagar highway had reopened on Sunday after remaining closed for over six days following landslides and heavy snowfall along the nearly 280-kilometre-long stretch.
