| Only SF convoy allowed on Kashmir highway, essential vehicles on Leh | | | Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Apr 22: Only security forces vehicles were on Wednesday allowed to ply from Jammu to Srinagar on 270-km-long national highway, connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.
Meanwhile, only essential service vehicles — carrying vegetables, fruits and other commodities — were allowed to ply on 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh national highway, the only road connecting Ladakh with rest of the country.
“Only security force convoy was today allowed to ply from Jammu to Srinagar on Kashmir highway,” a traffic police official told
He said no other traffic, including essential service or passenger vehicles, would be allowed to ply on the highway.
Since last month, only essential commodity vehicles have been allowed on the highway, where traffic was suspended on Tuesday for several hours due to landslides in Ramban area. However, SRTC vehicles have been ferrying stranded passengers between Srinagar and Jammu occasionally on the highway. Passenger vehicles have not been allowed on the highway since last month to in view of lockdown to curtail spread of Coronavirus.
He said on Tuesday 14 SRTC vehicles, carrying Kashmiris from Quarantine Centre Lakhanpur in Kathua to the valley, reached to their respective destinations after remaining suspended for several hours.
The Leh highway reopened on April 11 after remaining closed for the past about five months due to accumulation of snow and slippery road conditions. However, only vehicles carrying essentials, including petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders, were allowed to ply on the highway.
He said no passenger vehicles will be allowed on the highway, where health checkup for truckers and their helpers — while going to Ladakh and the way back — has been made mandatory to curtail spread of Coronavirus. “Only a driver and a helper would be allowed with a truck, carrying essential commodities to the Union Territory of Ladakh,” he added.
“Due to the sub-zero temperature, trucks are being allowed to move to Leh UT, from 1000 hrs onwards,” he said, adding each truck will carry only 11 tones of load on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway, because of hilly, slippery terrain and weather vagaries. |
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