The Mughal Road, an alternate link between Kashmir and rest of the country, was Wednesday opened for traffic after remaining closed for four months owing to heavy snowfall during winter, officials said.
The traffic on the 84-km mountainous road, connecting thetwin districts of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu region with south Kashmir’sShopian, will be restricted to one-way and only passenger vehicles will be allowedto ply for the time being, Deputy Superintendent of Police (traffic) MuhammadRafiq told PTI.
“We have started one-way traffic from this side(Poonch) and allowed 111 light motor vehicles, mostly passenger vehicles, tomove towards Shopian,” the officer said.
He said the traffic will ply alternatively from Poonch andShopian side till the road is made worthy for two-way traffic.
“The present condition of the road is not favourablefor heavy trucks right now. The agency concerned is working round-the-clock andwe are expecting to allow trucks on the road by next week,” the officersaid.
The road was closed for traffic on January 1 this year afterheavy snowfall in the high altitude areas including Peer Ki Gali along theroad.
The opening of the Mughal Road is expected to ease pressureon the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, which witnessed frequent closure thiswinter due to landslides between Ramban and Banihal at regular intervals amidstongoing work on the four-laning project, leading to scarcity of essentialcommodities in the valley.
The mechanical division of roads and buildings department,which maintains the surface link, launched a massive snow-clearance operationaround middle of March to ensure its early reopening. However, frequentsnowfall delayed the snow clearance operation.
The work on theconstruction of the historic road, which was used by Mughal kings to reachKashmir and is thus named after them, started in 2005 and the work wascompleted in December 2008. PTI