Rainfall triggers landslide blocking Jammu-Srinagar national highway

Officials (representatives) said the stranded vehicles will be removed after the repair work is completed

Banihal/Jammu,:

Vehicular movement was suspended on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on Sunday as overnight rain triggered landslides at some places in Ramban district, officials said.

A traffic department official said road clearing work at Kishtwari Pather and Mehar-Cafeteria Morh has been ongoing since morning to ensure early resumption of traffic on the 270-km-long highway, which connects Kashmir with other parts of the country. the only all-weather road. nation.

Officials said a massive landslide occurred at Kishtwari Passer near Nacharana in Banihal district around midnight, while Mehar Mohr restaurant near Ramban town was hit by mudslides and hills. Stones blocked the road.

Traffic department officials said Srinagar-bound vehicles were intercepted at Nagrota in Jammu and Jakani in Udhampur this morning following the landslide. Jammu-bound vehicles are not allowed to cross Qazigund in south Kashmir.

A truck was damaged after being hit by falling rocks on a hillock in Ramban Panthiyal on Saturday night. The truck driver and his assistant escaped uninjured, officials said.

They said roads remained blocked and people were advised to avoid traveling between the two capital cities until roads were clear.

Once the route restoration work is completed, stranded vehicles will be cleared on priority, they added.

The traffic department said that in view of the urgent repairs and upgrades being carried out at the airport runway near Bijbehara in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, heavy motor vehicles (HMV) will be banned from the highway between 4 am on Monday and 7 am on Tuesday. travel.

“Light motor vehicles (LMVs) will be diverted to the old national highway route between Alistop and Doonipora, including Wanpoh, Khanabal, Batengo, Padshahi Bagh and Bijbihara. Truck drivers are advised to avoid traveling on the highway from 4am on April 1 . (Monday) through 7 a.m. Tuesday, April 2,” the department said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)