| Fresh traffic not allowed on Jammu-Srinagar highway, stranded vehicles being cleared | | |
Jammu
Authorities Wednesday did not allow fresh traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar highway after a landslide sent stones hurling down a hillock, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded, officials said.
It was decided to first clear the stranded vehicles, and therefore no fresh traffic was allowed on the 270-km highway either from Srinagar or Jammu this morning, the officials said.
They said the decision to reopen the traffic on the highway will be taken later in the day after all the stranded vehicles are cleared and the situation near the landslide spot is reviewed.
The landslide which struck the highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, forced the closure of the highway for two days at Gangroo near Ramsu.
Though authorities after hectic efforts removed the debris and ensured reopening of the road Friday, the intermittent falling of stones at the same spot over the past five days caused frequent disruption in the smooth movement of the traffic.
The traffic on the highway is restricted to one-way over the past several months, playing alternatively from the twin capitals of Srinagar and Jammu, in view of the ongoing four-laning project.
The stones continues to fall almost throughout the day Tuesday, blocking the Jammu-bound traffic. The road was cleared around midnight, but a fresh falling of stones forced suspension of the traffic this morning, a traffic department official said.
He said the stones stopped falling Tuesday afternoon again, allowing the traffic department to show green signal to the stranded vehicles.
Most of the passenger vehicles have already been cleared and now the focus is on the heavy vehicles, the official said.
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