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Srinagar-Jammu traffic to operate for second day today

KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 1/19/2020 4:22:32 PM

SRINAGAR, Jan 18: Traffic will ply from Srinagar to Jammu for the second consecutive day on Saturday, when no vehicle will be allowed from opposite direction on the highway, the only road connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.
Meanwhile, over 3000 Heavy Motor Vehicles (HMVs), including those carrying fruit and other material besides empty oil and LPG tankers, which were stranded between Lower Monda and Shaitannallah for the past about two weeks, were allowed to move towards Jammu till late last night.
Only one-way traffic will continue to ply on Srinagar-Jammu national highway till further orders to avoid traffic jam and accidents, a traffic police official told media.
He said for the second consecutive day today traffic will ply from here to winter capital, Jammu. No vehicle will be allowed from opposite direction, he said.
The Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) will have to cross Qazigund, gateway of Kashmir, before 1300 hrs. However, due to slippery road conditions between Jawahar tunnel to Banihal, vehicles were to move towards Jammu only after 0900 hrs when there was some improvement. The drivers were asked to drive very slowly to avoid any accident.
He said after 1300 hrs, HMVs will be allowed to move towards Jammu.
He said traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu highway was suspended on Monday following heavy snowfall at Qazigund, Jawahar tunnel, Banihal and Shaitan Nallah and fresh landslides and shooting stone at over a dozen places between Ramban and Ramsu. But, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) pressed into service sophisticated machines and finally cleared snow and landslides and one-way traffic was allowed from Srinagar to Jammu on Friday.
During the past few years, the highway frequently gets closed due to landslides between Ramban and Ramsu, leading to acute shortage of essentials in the Kashmir valley, which entirely dependent on imports from different states. The prices of commodities are also going up after highway gets closed. Frequent suspension of traffic on the highway has become a daily routine since NHAI started road widening, particularly between Ramban and Ramsu.
Meanwhile, the highway, the only road connecting Union Territory (UT) Ladakh with Kashmir and Mughal road, linking Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region, and Anantnag-Kishtwar road also remained closed for the past 39 days on Saturday due to snow and slippery conditions.
The 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh national highway and historic 86-km-long Mughal road remained closed and there was no chance of reopening these roads before April-May following heavy to very snowfall besides slippery conditions.