Ramban, Sep 4: The Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remained completely blocked for the third consecutive day due to multiple landslides and mudslides triggered by heavy rains besides sinking and washing away of road stretches between Udhampur and Chenani, on Thursday.
Due to the closure of the highway, hundreds of vehicles are stranded between Lakhanpur-Madhopur and Srinagar.
Due to the road blockade, people, especially vehicle operators, are facing hardships and difficulties as they have been stuck at different locations between Srinagar and Jammu since August 26.
The highway was blocked due to multiple landslides between Udhampur and Banihal and flash floods on the Jammu-Pathankot section on August 26.
However, after a slight improvement in the weather, the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was partially restored on Sunday evening after road stretches at three different locations, Samroli, Balli Nallah, and Tharad, were made traffic worthy by the concerned road maintenance agency, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), for clearing stranded vehicles.
On Tuesday morning, following torrential rains across the region, the highway again got blocked at multiple locations between Udhampur and Chenani, and between Nashri and Banihal sectors.
However, after a slight improvement in the weather on Thursday, road restoration work was going on war footing to restore the highway at various locations, especially at Tharad, Samroli, Maroog, and many other locations.
Senior Superintendent of Traffic Police, National Highway, Ramban, Raja Adil Hamid, who is monitoring road restoration work at Bali Nullah and Tharad, said that road restoration work was going on.
Officials of NHAI in Udhampur said that the road restoration work was on to clear the landslide and make arrangements to restore this vital road connectivity.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ramban, Muhammad Alyas Khan, said that the Nashri to Banihal stretch of the highway had been partially restored on Thursday.
However, he said it would take time for complete restoration.
