SRINAGAR, Dec 19
Only one-way traffic will be allowed to ply on Thursday on the national highway, connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, as road at several places is still very narrow where only one-vehicle can pass at a time.Meanwhile, the Srinagar-Leh national highway remained closed for the past nine days on Thursday due to accumulation of several feet of snow and slippery road condition, particularly at Zojila pass. The authorities recently airlifted hundreds of passengers who were stranded in Ladakh and Srinagar due to closure of the highway.The historic 86-km-long Mughal road and Anantnag-Kishtwar roads also remained closed due to accumulation of snow for the past nine days, a traffic police official said this morning.Vehicles will ply from Jammu to Srinagar only and no vehicle will be allowed from opposite direction on the highway, Inspector General of Police Alok Kumar said today. He said the road at several places, particularly at Mompassi, is very narrow where only one vehicle can pass at a time. “If any vehicle comes from opposite direction, entire traffic comes to halt badly hitting normal movement of vehicles on the highway”, he said and appealed to people to strictly follow the advisory being issued by the traffic department daily. Mr Kumar said people are requested to contact Traffic Control Units (TCUs) at Srinagar, Jammu and Ramban before starting journey on the highway. He said there are also big snow walls on both sides of the 40 km road, particularly between Jawahar tunnel and Banihal, adding this stretch of the road remains slippery in the morning and evening when snow water freezes. Drivers are requested to drive slowly and avoid applying breaks to due to slippery road conditions on this stretch to avoid accidents.“He said there was no stranded vehicle on the highway between Qazigund to Udhampur. We allowed fresh traffic from Jammu to Srinagar, he said adding Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) will have to pass Nagrota before 1100 hrs. The Heavy Motor Vehicles (HMVs) will be allowed from 1400 hrs,” he said. However, reports received here said that there are several thousand HMVs, carrying essentials for Kashmir valley, stranded at Samba and other places in Jammu region for the past about a week. The Mughal road, linking Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region remained closed for the past nine days on Thursday due to accumulation of snowfall and slippery road conditions. The snow clearance operation was going on from both sides, he said adding there was several feet of snow accumulated at several places on the Mughal road. Traffic on the road was allowed recently after remaining suspended since November 6 when there was heavy snowfall. The road, which is also seen as alternative to Srinagar-Jammu national highway, remained closed during winter months due to about ten feet of snow and avalanches every year.
