A massive landslide blocked the strategic 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Udhampur district early Monday, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded, officials said. The landslide struck the highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, at Dewal near Samroli around 2.45 am, the officials said.
Senior Superintendent of Police, traffic (national highway), Shabir Ahmad Malik said road clearance agencies have pressed men and machinery and efforts are on to make the highway traffic worthy. "No fresh traffic was allowed either from Jammu or Srinagar this morning in view of the closure of the highway,” he said, adding over 300 Jammu-bound trucks and some passenger vehicles were left stranded due to the closure of the highway.
The blocking of the highway also forced suspension of traffic on the Jammu-Kishtwar-Doda national highway which passes through Samroli as well, the officials said. Hundreds of passenger vehicles, which left for Srinagar and Chenab valley region including Doda and Kishtwar this morning, were stopped at several places including Nagrota bypass and Narwal here.
The highway was only cleared for traffic on Sunday after a day-long closure owing to fresh snowfall in Qazigund-Banihal sector and multiple landslides triggered by heavy rains in Ramban. The SSP said barring 300 trucks on their way to Jammu, thousands of vehicles had reached their destinations on Sunday.
With PTI Inputs
