Banihal July 9: Vehicular traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu highway came to a standstill after a massive landslide hit the road in Makarkoot area of J&K’s Ramban district on Friday evening.
A spokesperson of the J&K Traffic Police said that the landslide in the area, which is 17 knlm from Banihal, had blocked both the lanes of the NHW44 saying it might take till tomorrow to clear the road.
The spokesperson asked people to plan their travel on the highway accordingly.
Locals told Greater Kashmir that the maintenance of the road stretch had been assigned to the construction company CPPPL, which is building a tunnel in the area. Part of the tunnel had also been damaged by the landslide, they said.
Meanwhile, SSP Ramban, PD Nitya in a statement asked passengers in LMVs to move back towards Banihal or Ramban from either side stranded on the stretch.
No new vehicles will be allowed to ply on NH44 from Nashri towards Srinagar and from Banihal towards Ramban, the SSP said.
He asked people to cooperate with district police Ramban and make travel plans only after checking the status of the road.
The landslide may take 10-12 hours to get cleare, Nitya added.