Landslide-hit Jammu-Srinagar NH remains closed restoration work may take six days

Jammu, Apr 21: The landslide-hit Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained closed for a second day on Monday, with a senior NHAI official saying the road clearance operation, underway at 20 locations, was likely to take about six days.

Hundreds of vehicles were left stranded on the strategic 250-kilometre highway — the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country — on Sunday after heavy rainfall and cloudbursts triggered flash floods, landslides and mudslides in Ramban district.

Three persons, including two minor siblings, were killed and more than 100 people were rescued as the natural calamity caused massive damage to infrastructure, including roads and residential buildings. A number of vehicles were also buried under the debris.

“We are faced with a challenging situation due to massive deposits of muck on the highway at more than a dozen places, especially on the four-kilometre stretch between Seri and Maroog. The height of the sludge at some places is more than 20 feet,” National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Project Director, Purshottam Kumar said.

The agency’s major machinery, including earth movers, are buried under the debris, he added.

“Despite limited available resources of our own, we have arranged machinery from private contractors and deployed those at 20 affected locations simultaneously to speed up the restoration work,” he said, expressing satisfaction at the improved weather condition after two days of heavy rain.

However, Kumar said the highway was likely to take five to six days to reopen for traffic.

The highway has suffered major damages near Panthiyal and Kela Morh, he added.

Meanwhile, stranded commuters, including two newlywed couples, were seen moving on foot to reach their destinations.

“The road is destroyed (at a number of places). The situation is very bad,” Rajasthan native Devi Lal, who is heading home from the Magam area of Budgam district, said in Ramban.

Accompanied by other members of his community, including women and children, Lal said they were walking to cross the problematic stretches before boarding a bus to Jammu.

Jamna, who was carrying a minor child on her shoulders, said stones and boulders were still coming down the hills overlooking the highway and added that the situation was frightening.

“We have not taken meals for the past two days,” she said as the group made their way to Udhampur.

Dressed in their wedding attire, Zahir Ahmad and Zaheera Bano were expecting a smooth ride into their new life together but it turned into an unforgettable journey as the newlywed couple had to walk from the bride’s Chenani home to the groom’s residence in Ramban.

“It was tiring but, in a way, it made the day even more special,” said Ahmad, adding he wanted no other person to experience such an ordeal.

Meanwhile, the reopening of the Mughal Road connecting the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu to Shopian district brought huge relief to the stranded people.

The authorities had initially decided to restrict traffic on the recently-opened Mughal Road to one way — Kashmir to Jammu. However, the all-weather national highway’s closure prompted the diversion of traffic and the deployment of additional police personnel to ensure smooth movement on both sides, officials said.

Hundreds of vehicles were left stranded on the strategic 250-kilometre Jammu-Srinagar National Highway — the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country — after Sunday’s heavy rainfall and cloudbursts triggered flash floods, landslides and mudslides in Ramban district.

The historic Mughal Road, which usually remains closed during the winters due to heavy snowfall, especially in Peer Ki Gali, was reopened after three months for one-way traffic on April 15.

However, inclement weather, including fresh snowfall, forced its closure on April 18. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) mobilised its men and machinery and managed to make it traffic-worthy again.

The officials said massive traffic congestion was witnessed in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch due to a sudden increase in the number of vehicles moving to and from the Kashmir valley.

Almost all the roads of Rajouri and Poonch linked to the Mughal Road are heavily choked, with law enforcement agencies facing a tough time regulating traffic, especially in Thanamandi, Surankote and Chatta Pani to Peer Ki Gali, they said.

The road is single-way at a few locations between Chatta Pandi and Peer Ki Gali, causing traffic movement to be slow, they added.

“We are planning to undertake a clearance operation tonight to widen the road, which is snow-bound at various locations,” a BRO official said.

There is also a lack of facilities such as restaurants, hotels and public toilets along the road, causing inconvenience for commuters, he added.