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| One-way traffic continues to ply on Srinagar-Jammu highway | | | Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Mar 1 : Despite rains, one-way traffic continued to ply on 300-km Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the only road conecting the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, on Thursday. Since there was still apprehensions of landslides and shooting stones due to intermittent rains, authorities allowed only one-way traffic from Srinagar on the Srinagar-Jammu highway as a precautionary measure during the day.
It is pertinent to mention here that Ladakh region remains cut-off from the rest of the state due to closure of Zojila pass since December I last year.
Authorities arranged for a helicopter service on Thursday for stranded passengers of border town of Gurez, which remained cut-off from the district headquarter Bandipora due to heavy snowfall in January.
According to Bandipora deputy commissioner, helicopter service for stranded passengers between Bandipora and Gurez will operate on Thursday, subject to normal weather conditions.
A traffic police spokesperson said that the vehicles allowed to ply from Srinagar, including those carrying passengers and empty trucks oil and gas tankers, have to cross Qazigund gateway of Kashmir before 12am.
He said that no vehicle will be allowed from Jammu to Srinagar to avoid traffic jams.
Despite some improvement in weather conditions, there was still danger of shooting stones and landslides at Jawahar Tunnel, Shaitan Nullah, Ramban, Ramsu and Penthal because of intermittent rains.
The highway remained frequently closed during this winter because of heavy snowfall, landslides and avalanches, which claimed 11 lives in February.
Frequent closure of the highway has resulted in shortage of essentials, particularly cooking gas in the Kashmir valley. Authorities have yet to resume home delivery of cooking gas in the valley, including summer capital Srinagar.
The Centre and state government have agreed to construct a tunnel at Zojila to make it all-weather road. According to officials, work on the tunnel will start in August this year.
Dozens of far-flung and remote villages, including those near the Line of Control (LoC), also remained cut off from their respective district headquarters due to closure of Sadhna and Razdan passes in north Kashmir. |
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