Highway closed again, 1500 vehicles stranded

The Srinagar-Jammu highway was last night once again closed for traffic after landslides triggered by rain and snow struck the road at 17 places.

Inspector general of traffic police Alok Kumar told Greater Kashmir that landslides blocked the road at Sahalgadi, Sherbibi, Chamalwas, Panthyal, Gangroo, Maroog, Anokifall, Digdol and Nasri.

   

Kumar said that though clearance has been started, intermittent rains, snowfall and shooting stones are hampering the operation.

He said over 1500 light motor vehicles and trucks are stranded along the road at various places.

“Once the road is restored, priority will be given to the stranded traffic,” he said, and added that about one feet of snow has accumulated at Jawahar tunnel also.

Losses worth hundreds of crores of rupees have been incurred by the Valley’s businessmen and traders because of the frequent closure of the highway this winter.

Meanwhile, the local meteorological department officials said during the past 24 hours, higher reaches of Kashmir received snowfall and plains rain.

MeT director Sonam Lotus said there will be significant improvement in weather from Friday.

“The sky will remain cloudy for almost a week and we do not expect any adverse weather those days,” he said.

Meanwhile, the higher reaches of Bhaderwah valley received heavy snowfall while the Bhaderwah town witnessed moderate snowfall since Thursday morning, which intensified cold wave conditions in the entire Chenab region.

Also, torrential rains lashed the Chenab Valley yesterday.

The residents of remote areas have complained of disruption in power and water supply.

(Inputs from Tahir Nadeem Khan Yusafzai)

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