Srinagar, Jan 3 (UNI) The 270-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only all weather road linking Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, was closed for traffic movement on Sunday due to fresh snowfall and rain since early this morning.
Meanwhile, the national highway, the only road connecting Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh with Kashmir, historic 86-km-long Mughal road and Anantnag- Sampthan Kishtwar road have been closed for winter months due to accumulation of snow and slippery road conditions.
Traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway has been suspended due to fresh snowfall on both sides of the Jawahar tunnel, Shaitan Nallah and Banihal, a traffic police official told UNI today. It was also raining between Ramban and Ramsu and other areas, he said.
He said it was snowing when the last report came in. However, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Border Roads Organisation (BRO), responsible for maintenance of the road, have put in place sophisticated machines at different places to clear the snow. But, due to continued snowfall, the snow clearance operation was delayed, he said.
Meanwhile, large number of vehicles, including those carrying essentials, are stranded at different places on the highway. Once the road is put through, the stranded vehicles will be allowed to move before the fresh traffic is allowed, he said adding stranded vehicles between Jawahar tunnel and Banihal will be allowed first to move towards Jammu.
Today Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs)were to ply from Jammu to Srinagar on the highway and stranded Heavy Motor Vehicles (HMVs) and security forces from opposite direction.
The national highway connecting UT Ladakh with Kashmir has been closed for winter months by the authorities due to accumulation of heavy snow and slippery road conditions.
The Anantnag-Sampathan road and Mughal road connecting south Kashmir with Rajouri, Poonch and Kishtwar in Jammu region have also been closed for winter months due to accumulation of heavy snow on theseroads.
UNI ABS JW1001