Jammu-Srinagar highway to open after 6 days: NHAI

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Monday said that it would take six days to restore traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar highway despite restoration efforts in Ramban that was hit by landslides and flashfloods after heavy rain on Sunday.

Around 300 vehicles are stranded at various places in the rain-battered district, where three people, including two minor siblings, died and 350 were shifted to safety on Sunday.

NHAI project director Purshottam Kumar Sharma said, “Going by the condition of the damaged road and volume of debris accumulated due to the landslides, it may take six days for us to make the affected stretch worthy for partial restoration of traffic.”

He said the situation was challenging due to massive deposit of debris on the highway at more than a dozen places, particularly the 4km stretch between Seri and Marog.

“Restoration work is underway but it also depends upon fair weather conditions,” he said, adding that the height of the sludge at some places was more than 20 feet in some areas.

The problem has been aggravated as major machinery of the NHAI, including earth movers, lie buried in the debris, he said. “We have arranged machinery from private contractors and deployed them at 20 locations simultaneously to speed up restoration,” he said.

The highway has suffered major damage near Panthial and Kela Morh.

A police officer said that passengers of around 300 vehicles are stranded at various places on the strategic 250km highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country. Several vehicles were buried in the debris.

The commuters, including two newlywed couples and tourists, were seen crossing the affected stretch of 6km on foot before taking vehicles for their onward journey.

“Tourists from Kashmir, who wanted to reach Jammu, are covering the affected stretch on foot and then taking vehicles to reach their destinations,” a local said.

Though the weather cleared in the morning, it rained in the afternoon for over an hour.

The reopening of the Mughal Road connecting the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region with south Kashmir’s Shopian district has brought relief to the stranded people.

The authorities had initially decided to restrict traffic on the recently opened Mughal Road to one way — Kashmir to Jammu. However, the all-weather national highway’s closure prompted the diversion of traffic and the deployment of additional police personnel to ensure smooth movement on both sides, officials said.

The historic Mughal Road, which usually remains closed during winter due to snowfall, especially in Peer Ki Gali, was reopened after three months for one-way traffic on April 15.

However, inclement weather, including fresh snowfall, forced its closure on April 18. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) mobilised its men and machinery and managed to make it traffic-worthy again.

The Centre has already announced a tunnel on the road to ensure year-round connectivity between the two regions on either side of the Pir Panjal that forms part of the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency.