Ramban: The traffic movement on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was disrupted for a few hours due to mudslides and shooting stones on the Cafeteria Morh-Mehar stretch of Ramban on Wednesday morning and for a few hours in the afternoon after a load carrier turned turtle in the middle of the road at Dalwass area.
Traffic authorities said that due to rains that lashed the area early Wednesday, mud and landslides occurred between Mehar and Cafeteria Morh, Ramban at 5 am.
This portion of the highway remained closed due to the accumulation of mudslides besides the triggering of shooting stones at various places from Mehar to Cafeteria Morh, Ramban on the highway.
They said that the road restoration works were started by the concerned agency after a slight improvement was observed in the weather.
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) had pressed into service sophisticated machinery for clearing the landslides and making it through a single way at 9 am.
They said that amid shooting stones on Mehar, Cafeteria Morh Ramban stretch, the traffic was plying towards their respective destinations.
There was an extremely slow movement of vehicles on this stretch of the highway, and frequent closures due to landslides became the order of the day on the highway.
Deputy Superintendent of Traffic Police, National Highway, Ramban, Parul Bhradway said a heavy load carrier turned turtle in the middle of the road near Dalwass, Chanderkote halted the vehicular traffic movement for around four hours.
He said that the truck was removed from the road with the help of a crane and traffic resumed on the highway at 7:30 pm.
Police said that the driver and his helper escaped unhurt in this accident.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Traffic Police Department issued an advisory stating that subject to fair weather and better road conditions, passenger Light Motor Vehicles would be allowed to ply on either side whereas Heavy Motor Vehicles would be allowed from Qaziqund, Kashmir to move towards Jammu after assessing the traffic situation on the highway on Thursday morning.
They advised the people to confirm the status of the road before undertaking journeys from the Traffic Control Units of Jammu, Srinagar, Udhampur, and Ramban on Thursday.