Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Mar 21: Traffic department again reverted to one-way Light Motor Vehicle (LMV) traffic on Sunday on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway after allowing vehicles to ply from both sides on Saturday.
However, no fresh Heavy Motor Vehicle (HMV) was allowed to ply from Srinagar or Jammu today and only stranded vehicles between Jawahar tunnel and Banihal were be allowed to move towards winter capital, a traffic police official said.
Meanwhile, the national highway, the only road connecting Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh with Kashmir, historic Mughal road and Anantnag-Kishtwar road remained closed. There is a forecast for rain or snow during the next 48 hours in the Jammu and Kashmir which could affect surface transport.
LMVs were allowed to ply from both Srinagar and Jammu on Saturday on the national highway, connecting the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country after no traffic was allowed on Friday to allow the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to undertake necessary weekly maintenance and repair work.
Only Jammu bound HMVs were allowed to ply from Qazigund after tail of up convoy crosses Banihal yesterday, he said. However, today LMV were allowed to ply from Srinagar to Jammu only, he said adding no vehicle was allowed from opposite direction.
LMV vehicles had to cross Zig Qazigund between 0700 hrs to 1200 hrs, he said adding no vehicle was allowed after cut off timing.
Since large number of HMVs remained stranded between Jawahar tunnel and Banihal yesterday, it was decided not to allow any fresh HMV from Srinagar or Jammu side, he said. Stranded HMVs were being allowed to move towards Jammu, he added.
He said security forces were also advised not to ply against traffic advisory in view of the traffic congestion on the highway, he said adding they may ply from Srinagar to Jammu.
Meanwhile, the national highway connecting Ladakh with Kashmir valley remained closed since January Ist, 2021 due to accumulation of snow. However, Beacon had cleared the snow and declared the highway open on February 28 only to suspend traffic again after few hours due to fresh snowfall and avalanches. However, traffic was allowed from Srinagar to tourist resort of Sonamarg on the highway.
The historic 86-km-long Mughal road which remained closed for any traffic or pedestrian movement since December last year. There are many avalanche prone areas on the road, connecting Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region.
The Anantnag-Kishtwar road also remained closed due to accumulation of snow.
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