Srinagar/Jammu: Fresh snowfall in Kashmir
forced the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway Thursday cutting off the Valley from the rest of the country.
Air traffic to and fro the Valley was also suspended.
"The highway has been closed due to fresh snowfall at
Banihal-Patnitop stretch which has rendered the road
slippery," Ramban Superintendent of Police Anil Magotra said.
There is snowfall at Jawahir Tunnel, Banihal, Shatani
Nallah, Ramso areas, Batote and Patnitop area, while heavy
rains have lased Ramban section besides, there is a major
landslide at Digdol area of the highway, he said.
The 294-km arterial road, the only road link between
Kashmir and rest of the country, was earlier closed on January
15 due to heavy snowfall and reopened for one-way traffic on
Tuesday evening to allow the stranded vehicles to reach the
summer capital.
Due to the closure of the highway, over 2,970 vehicles
are stranded at various places mostly at Ramban, Udhampur and
Nagrota areas in Jammu district.
Men and machines of Border Road Organisations are working over time to clear snow from the highway.
"But the snow clearance operation is facing difficulty
due to continuous snowfall," Magrotra said.
Snowfall began in most parts of the Valley last
evening while in the summer capital of the state it started
early this morning.
The air traffic has also been suspended due to snowfall which reduced the visibility at Srinagar International Airport.
Air traffic was restored on Tuesday after remaining
suspended for two days. The airlines operated 40 flights on
Tuesday and Wednesday to facilitate travel of stranded
passengers and tourists in the Valley.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 13:40