Ramban, July 19: Vehicular traffic on Jammu -Srinagar highway remained disrupted for around 18 hours since Wednesday night after landslides triggered by torrential rains occurred at various places between Batote and Ramban.
 Chronic traffic jams on either side exposed the commuters to lot of hardships as hundreds of vehicles remained stranded between Jammu and Ramban.
 Sources informed Greater Kashmir that heavy rainfall in Ramban and Banihal areas last night triggered massive landslides at various places bringing the traffic movement on the artery road to a standstill.
 “Landslides occurred at Mehar, Shan palace Ramban, Seri and Kelamorh in Batote of Banihal sector due to which the vehicular traffic remained halted since last night,” an official of Beacon authorities said.
 He said that mud slides and huge boulders blocked the road after which men and machinery was pressed in service. He said that the clearance operation started early this morning continued till late afternoon and the traffic was resumed at around 2 PM.
 Hundreds of vehicles, including those carrying Amaranth pilgrims and heavy vehicles remained stranded at various places on either sides of the highway and were allowed to proceed towards their destination after 2 PM.
 Due to chronic jams vehicles were seen moving at snails pace while at some places traffic movement remained halted for hours.
 SSP Traffic highway Verinder Sharma said that stranded vehicles carrying pilgrims, passenger vehicles and load carriers on both sides of the highway remained stranded since late Wednesday night at various places, due to landslides. “After remaining closed for eighteen hours, the traffic on the highway was resumed at around 2 PM,” he said.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:00:00 IST