Srinagar-Jammu Highway closes after fresh landslides

SRINAGAR — The 270-km-long Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only all-weather road connecting Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country, was closed yet again on Wednesday due to fresh landslides, triggered by rains.

Official sources informed that traffic on the highway was closed due to fresh landslides at Panthal and Cafeteria mode.

Traffic on the highway was suspended again this morning due to fresh landslides at several places between Ramban and Ramsu, a traffic police official said this morning.

He said the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has already pressed into service sophisticated machines and men to clear the landslides. He said that continued shooting stones were hampering the operation.

Meanwhile, the 86-km-long historic Mughal road, connecting Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region and Anantnag-Kishtwar road remained closed for the past over two months due to accumulation of snow.

Srinagar-Kargil road and Bandipora-Gurez road are also closed, said an official. He said that Kupwara-Karnah road, Kupwara-Keran road, and Kupwara-Machil road are, however, open for traffic.

Meanwhile, due to COVID-19 scare and lockdown, airline service and train service are also in suspension mode.

The MeT has predicted scattered light rain and thundershowers across Kashmir Valley in next 24 hours.