Srinagar, May 9 : The Srinagar-Jammu national highway, only all weather road linking the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, was closed due to fresh landslides on Thursday morning, a traffic police official said.
Meanwhile, one-way traffic will continue to ply on the national highway, the only road linking the Ladakh region with Kashmir and historic 86-km-long Mughal road.
We had announced that traffic will ply from Jammu to Srinagar on Thursday after civilian traffic remained suspended yesterday due to ban to allow free and secure movement of security force convoy, he said. The government has banned civilian traffic twice in a week on Sunday and Wednesday for safe movement of security force convoy after 44 CRPF personnel were killed in a fidayeen attack at Awantipora on the highway in February this year. However, the government has reviewed the ban and announced to lift it on Wednesday from next week. Ban on Sunday civilian traffic movement will continue till further orders.
However, traffic was suspended on the highway this morning following fresh huge landslides at Digdol Ramban last evening, a traffic police official told . The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) have already pressed into service sophisticated machine and men to clear the landslides, he said. However, he said, it will take 24 hours to put through traffic on the highway. Traffic will be resumed only after getting green signal from officials posted at different places. Hundreds of vehicles are stranded at different places on the highway.
Meanwhile, only one-way traffic will continue to ply on the national highway, the only road linking Ladakh region with Kashmir valley, he said adding today Ladakh bound vehicles will be allowed to ply from Sonmarg in central Kashmir to Kargil in Ladakh region. However, the Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) have to leave from 0700 hrs to 1000 hrs from Sonmarg while Heavy Motor Vehicles (HMVs) from 1000 hrs to 1300 hrs. No vehicle will be allowed after the deadline, he said.
Only one-way traffic will ply on 86-km-long historic Mughal road, connecting Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region. Today LMVs and HMVs will ply from Shopian to other side of the other side of Pir-ki-Gali. However, vehicles will have to leave Herpora and Shopian between 0600 hrs to 1500 hrs, he said.
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