Landslides lead to closure of Jammu and Kashmir highway, 1000 vehicles stranded

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

Srinagar, July 21, 2022: The Jammu-Srinagar national highway was closed for traffic due to landslides triggered by heavy rains at several places in the Ramban district on Thursday, officials said. Nearly 1000 vehicles, including a convoy carrying Amarnath pilgrims, are stranded at different points of the highway, they said.

 

The 270-km highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, was blocked by shooting stones, and landslides at four places in the Ramban district. The highway is closed at Cafeteria Moore Ramban since Wednesday night due to the shooting of stones.

Officials said the convoy carrying Amarnath pilgrims to Kashmir has been stopped at Chanderkoot and Nashri for now, they said. Restoration work is in progress.

In May this year, a part of an under-construction tunnel collapsed on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in the same Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir, trapping at least 13 laborers, three of whom were rescued.

While three rescued workers were admitted to hospitals, Deputy Commissioner of Ramban said a body was recovered.

Several machines and trucks were damaged in that incident. “Around 10.15 pm on Thursday, the audit tunnel of T3 on the highway near Khooni Nallah in Ramban collapsed, trapping 11-12 laborers of Sarla Company working there," a senior official told PTI.

The blocked highway then meant that close to 1400 vehicles were stuck in a traffic jam witnessed last month which the local authorities took more than 3 days to clear.