Traffic suspended on Srinagar-Jammu highway due to landslide

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Traffic on Friday was suspended on 270-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only all-weather road connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country due to landslides.Meanwhile, the national highway, the only road linking Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh with Kashmir, historic 86-km-long Mughal road and Anantnag-Kishtwar roads are also through for traffic.A traffic police official said this morning that traffic on the highway was disrupted due to landslides in Ramban this morning. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has pressed into service machines and men to clear the landslides, he said adding it may take several hours to put through the traffic.Meanwhile, hundreds of vehicles, including those carrying passengers, got stranded on both sides of the highway.Traffic will be resumed only after getting green signal from the NHAI and traffic police personnel deployed at different places on the highway, he said.He said today Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) were allowed to ply from both Srinagar and Jammu sides.However, Kashmir-bound vehicles had to leave Nagrota between 0700 hrs to 1200 hrs and Jakheni Udhampur from 0800 hrs to 1300 hrs. Jammu-bound LMVs will have to leave Zig Qazigund between 1000 hrs to 1300 hrs, he said, adding that no vehicle will be allowed after cut off timing.Heavy Motor Vehicles (HMVs) will ply from Qazigund towards Jammu. Security forces will also ply from Srinagar to Jammu, he added.He said one-way traffic will ply from Srinagar to UT Ladakh today. However, vehicles had to cross Sonamarg in the central Kashmir district of Ganderbal between 0700 hrs to 1500 hrs, he said adding no vehicle will be allowed before and after cut off timing.Meanwhile, he said, historic Mughal road, seen as alternative to Srinagar-Jammu highway, was through for traffic. But, he said, only load carriers, including those carrying fresh perishable fruit and vegetables besides empty trucks and oil tankers were being allowed to ply from Heerpora Shopian in south Kashmir to Poonch in Jammu region. The vehicles had to ply between 0900 hrs to 1400 hrs only, he said adding no vehicle will be allowed after cut off timing. No passenger vehicle or pedestrian movement will be allowed on the road, he added.Spokesman said Anantnag in south Kashmir and Kishtwar in Jammu region road was also through for traffic. However, only vehicles carrying patients and medical emergencies will be allowed to ply, he said