Ramban: Srinagar Jammu National Highway, after having remained blocked since Wednesday evening, was partially restored for Jammu-bound stranded traffic on Thursday afternoon.
The convoy of Amarnath pilgrims, who left Bhagwati Nagar base camp Jammu Thursday morning for two base camps in Kashmir, was stopped and accommodated in SASB Yatri Niwas at Chanderkote and other lodgement centres established by the district administration.
Authorities said earlier the road restoration work was hampered due to frequent tumbling of shooting stones near Mehad bridge, ahead of Ramban on Wednesday night.
The work was again hampered due to mudslides at several places between Chanderkote and Ramsu besides shooting stones at Panthyal following heavy rain on Thursday morning.
SSP Ramban Mohita Sharma Garg, while updating the status of the road, tweeted, “Single-way road through for the entire NH stretch of district Ramban, restoration work now ongoing to restore two-way traffic.”
Monsoon rain that lashed the area on Wednesday and Thursday morning triggered land and mudslides at various places between the Chanderkote and Ramsu sectors of the highway and shooting stones at Mehad and Panthyal thus forcing authorities to stop vehicles on both sides of the highway.
Traffic officials said, “Earlier on Wednesday morning, following a brief heavy spell of rain, the road was blocked at several places between Chanderkote and Ramsu in Ramban district. However, the road was restored and scheduled traffic was resumed on the highway.”
They said that since Wednesday afternoon shooting stones from a hillock at Mehad, Ramban disrupted the free flow of vehicular traffic at different intervals of time till evening. “Later a huge slide hit the road at the same place leading to complete blockage of the road last evening due to which hundreds of vehicles remained stranded between Ramban and Banihal and Mehad to Chanderkote stretch of highway,” they said.
They said, “On Thursday morning, rain again lashed Nashri–Banihal sector, triggering landslides and mudslides at several places between Chanderkote and Ramsu besides shooting stones at Panthyal and Mehad ahead of Ramban, which again blocked the road.”
They said later after improvement in weather conditions the NHAI again pressed its men and machinery into services for clearing the mudslides and stones accumulated on the road. After the road was cleared by the concerned agencies, the vehicular traffic was restored on Thursday afternoon.