| Kashmir highway opens for one-way only, vehicles to ply from Srinagar to Jammu | | | SRINAGAR : National highway, the only all weather road connecting the valley with the rest of the country, was through for one-way and vehicles will ply from Srinagar to Jammu on Monday, official sources said.
Meanwhile, the national highway, linking Ladakh region with Kashmir and historic 86-km-long Mughal road are also through for one-way traffic on Monday, sources said.
Despite security force convoy day on Sunday, only stranded vehicles on the Srinagar-Jammu highway were allowed to move towards their respective destinations, they added. Earlier, the authorities had imposed a two-day ban on civilian traffic in a week, Sunday and Wednesday, on the highway to allow free and secure movement of security forces convoy. However, Wednesday ban has been lifted.
They said after clearing the vehicles, stranded after the Srinagar-Jammu national highway was closed from May 9 evening due to landslides and shooting stones at several places, including at Digdol, it was decided to allow traffic from Srinagar to Jammu on Monday. No vehicle will be allowed from opposite direction. This is for the first time traffic was allowed from Srinagar to Jammu on Monday on the highway. Traffic was last allowed from Srinagar to Jammu on May 6 and only stranded vehicles were allowed on May 7 and May 8 as it was the Convoy Day and therefore traffic was allowed from Jammu to Srinagar on May 9, when the highway was closed due to landslides and shooting stones in the evening.
A traffic police spokesman said Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) and Heavy Motar Vehicle (HMVs) would be allowed from Srinagar towards Jammu on Monday.
However, LMVs will have to cross Zig Qazigund between 0500 hrs to 1000 hrs and HMVs 1000 hrs to 1900 hrs, he said, adding that no vehicle would be allowed after deadline.
He said only one-way traffic will ply on Mughal road, connecting Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region. Due to uncertain condition of Srinagar-Jammu national highway, majority vehicles now prefer to travel on Mughal road, which was reopened recently after remaining closed due to accumulation of snow for about six months. On Monday, traffic will ply from Shopian to other side of the Pir-ki-Gali, he said adding LMVs were allowed to ply from 0500 hrs to 0900 hrs while HMVs from 0900 to 1600 hrs from Hirpora Shopian.
On Monday, traffic will ply from Srinagar to Leh on the national highway, linking Ladakh with Kashmir, traffic official said. He added no vehicle would be allowed from opposite direction. However, he said, LMVs would have to ply between 0700 hrs to 1000 hrs while HMVs from 1000 hrs to 1300 hrs from Sonamarg. |
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