Ramban: The Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remained open for two-way traffic of Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) and one-way traffic of Heavy Motor Vehicles (HMVs) for Kashmir on Monday.
The traffic authorities said that during the last 24 hours up to 5 pm on Monday, the highway remained blocked for 5 hours and 49 minutes.
They said that the highway remained blocked for 1 hour and 45 minutes due to shooting stones on Mehar, Cafeteria stretch, for 3 hours and 46 minutes due to the closure of the Navyug Tunnel, and for 18 minutes due to the closure of Chenani-Nashri Tunnel.
The traffic authorities said that the movement of traffic remained slow at various places between Nashri and Banihal tunnels due to the breakdown of three HMVs.
Traffic officials monitoring the regulation of traffic on the Mehar-Cafeteria stretch in Ramban said that amid shooting stones on Mehar, Cafeteria stretches hundreds of LMVs crossed this stretch on a one-by-one basis for their respective destinations.
They said HMVs released from Jakhani, Udhampur were crossing the Nashri-Ramban sector toward Srinagar and other respective destinations in a regulated manner.
Meanwhile, J&K Traffic Department issued a fresh advisory for Tuesday stating that subject to fair weather and road clearance, LMVs would be allowed to move on either side of the highway while HMVs would be allowed from Qazigund, Kashmir to Jammu after assessing the road and traffic situation on the highway on Tuesday morning.
Traffic Control Unit (TCU) Srinagar has been asked to liaise with TCU Ramban before releasing the HMVs on Tuesday.
The cut-off timings have been fixed from 8 am to 12 pm from Nagrota, Jammu, and from 9 am to 1 pm from Jakhani, Udhampur for Srinagar-bound LMVs.
The cut-off timings for Jammu-bound LMVs have been fixed from 9 am to 1 pm from Qazigund, Kashmir.
People have been advised to undertake journeys on the highway only after confirming the status of the road from TCU Jammu, TCU Srinagar, and TCU Ramban.
The security forces have been advised not to ply against the advisory because of the narrow carriageways between Nashri-Banihal.
Meanwhile, SSP Traffic National Highway Ramban, Mohita Sharma said that 407 vehicles were challaned for traffic violations on Monday for overtaking, over speeding, and overloading, and eight vehicles were seized.
She said stringent measures were put in place by deploying extra police personnel at bottlenecks to maintain lane discipline on the highway so that traffic congestion could be avoided.
Sharma advised the people to follow traffic rules and not indulge in overtaking, speeding, and overloading.
