Srinagar, Mar 15 (UNI) No fresh traffic will be allowed from Srinagar or Jammu as only stranded vehicles were allowed to move towards their respective destinations on the National Highway, the only all weather road linking Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.
Meanwhile, snow clearance operation was going on from both sides of the Zojila pass on Srinagar-Leh National Highway which is closed since December last year due to accumulation of snow.
Traffic remained suspended since December last year on historic 86-km-long Mughal road, connecting Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region. The Anantnag-Kishtwar road also remained shut for the past four months.
Hundreds of vehicles got stranded on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway on Thursday, a traffic police official told UNI.
According to him, it was decided to clear the stranded vehicles, whereas no fresh vehicle was allowed from Srinagar or Jammu.
Once the stranded vehicles will be cleared, decision to allow fresh traffic will be taken, he further said.
Frequent landslides and shooting stone has become a routine on the highway forcing authorities to suspend traffic as a precautionary measure keeping in view the safety of passengers, official sources said.
They said the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Border Roads Organisation (BRO), responsible for widening of the road and its maintenance, are working almost round the clock to clear the landslides and shooting stones.
However, frequent suspension of traffic on the highway has badly hit the people of Kashmir valley, including fruit traders who find it difficult to transport their apple to different parts of the country. People are facing acute shortage of essentials, including vegetables, meat and chicken as valley entirely dependent on imports from different northern states.
UNI BAS QAB JTS 1017