Ramban: The free flow of vehicular traffic movement on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was disrupted due to intermittent rolling stones at Mehar and single-lane road stretch at Dalwass between Nashri and Ramban on Sunday.
Traffic officials monitoring the regulation of traffic at Nashri and Mehar said that the vehicles were being cleared on a one-by-one mode due to the single-lane road at Dalwass and due to the intermittent triggering of shooting stones on Mehar Cafeteria stretch ahead of Ramban.
SSP Traffic National Highway Ramban, Mohita Sharma told Greater Kashmir that intermittent shooting stones and slide at Mehar and hardly space of a single-lane road due to the sinking of land at Dalwass led to the heavy pressure of vehicles on the highway on Sunday.
She said that the Traffic Police personnel were on the job to ensure no loss of life or damage to vehicles occurring en route.
The traffic authorities said that during the last 24 hours up to 5 pm on Sunday, the highway remained blocked for 5 hours and 19 minutes.
They said that the highway remained blocked for 4 hours and 19 minutes due to the closure of the Chenani-Nashri tunnel and for an hour due to landslides and shooting stones at the Cafeteria Mehar stretch.
The traffic authorities said that the traffic movement remained slow due to the breakdown of 4 Heavy Motor Vehicles (HMVs) between Nashri and Banihal
Earlier, vehicular traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway resumed after 44-hour long blockade following rains which triggered landslides and shooting stones at Mehar-Cafeteria, Panthyal, and other places in Ramban district after concerned road maintenance agencies of NHAI cleared landslides and stones and prepared a single lane road stretch on Mehar-Cafeteria stretch and at Panthyal.
Officials said that all the stranded traffic between Udhampur and Qaziqund was cleared on Saturday night.
The stones were occasionally rolling down from the hillock at Mehar.
Meanwhile, J&K Traffic Police Department issued a fresh advisory for Monday stating that subject to fair weather and road clearance, Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) would be allowed to ply on both sides of the highway while HMVs stopped at Qazigund, Kashmir would be allowed to move towards Jammu after assessing the road and traffic situation on Monday morning.
People have been advised not to undertake journeys without confirming the status of the highway from Traffic Control Units (TCU) Jammu, TCU Udhampur, TCU Ramban, and TCU Srinagar on Monday.
The highway was open till late in the evening and HMVs including oil and LPG tankers were crossing the Mehar-Cafeteria stretch and heading towards Kashmir in a regulated manner.