Rains, snow back in Kashmir, highway closed again
By: Tariq Shah VOV
Srinagar
After the sunny days of February, there have been rains and snow from the past two days in many parts of Kashmir also in Jammu region. The sudden dip in the temperatures has also resulted in people wearing back the woolens in Kashmir valley.
But the surprise is that Srinagar-Jammu National Highway is again closed due to the heavy rains in many sectors of the highway especially in the Ramban sector.
While the authorities said that the highway was closed on Saturday due to the landslides triggered by rains, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have a question that what is the preparation of the authorities who maintain the highway for such rains and landslides.
Earlier also in the past two months, Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remained closed for days together due to the inclement weather and it has impacted not only the supplies of essential items but even resulted in people being trapped on the highway as the authorities failed to close it on time so that such tragedies could have been avoided.
Traffic authorities on Saturday said that due to landslides and shooting stones at Magerkot, the traffic movement has been suspended on the highway-connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.
He said that rainfall also triggered shooting stones and landslides at Panthyal and other areas on the highway. The official said that vehicles have been stopped at Ramban and Chanderkote in Ramban district, Chenani and Nagrote in Udhampur and Jammu districts respectively.
While the highway was closed due to landslides on Saturday, it remained closed even on Friday in view of a dry day as the day is meant for maintenance and repairs.
Meanwhile, MET has predicted intermittent light to moderate rain in plains and snow in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir and the inclement weather may continue today as well.
“Intermittent light to moderate rain in plains and snow over higher reaches of J&K most likely to continue today. Significant decrease in rain/snow likely from tomorrow onwards,” a communique by MET reads.
An official said that the traffic authorities had today planned vehicular movement on the highway from Jammu towards Srinagar.
(With agency inputs)
