One-way traffic on Srinagar-Jammu highway, road to Leh still closed

Srinagar: One-way traffic was resumed on the 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway after remaining suspended for two days due to heavy snowfall and slippery road conditions at Jawahar tunnel and Banihal.
The national highway, which links the Ladakh region with the rest of the country, besides the roads connecting border towns in north Kashmir also remained closed due to heavy snowfall.
Traffic from Jammu to Srinagar was allowed today, a traffic police spokesman said here.
He said the Border Roads Organization (BRO), responsible for the maintenance of the highway, the only road linking the Valley with the rest of the country, cleared the accumulated snow using sophisticated machines and men.
The snow was cleared in the afternoon yesterday, he said adding no fresh vehicle was allowed from Jammu or Srinagar.
He said all the vehicles, including trucks loaded with fruits and essentials, which were stranded on both sides of the tunnel for the past two days, were cleared till late last night.
He said no vehicle will be allowed from Srinagar as it has been decided to allow only one-way traffic to avoid any traffic jam and accident on the highway.
The spokesman said there were slippery road conditions between Qazigund to Banihal as the minimum temperature dipped to between minus 7 degrees to minus 10 degrees in that area.
Snow and water on the road was frozen, he said adding it has now started melting as the temperature has started rising.
However, the national highway remained closed because of heavy to very heavy snow fall on Sonamarg-Zojila-Menamarg area. The highway was closed from December 1, only to reopen in April-May this year.
The state and Central government have agreed to construct a tunnel at Zojila to make it an all-weather road to the region which otherwise remained cut off from the rest of the country during winters.
The authorities claimed that snow accumulated on roads leading to all district headquarters have been cleared and traffic resumed.
Official sources said roads leading to border towns of Keran, Karnah, Machil and other areas remained closed due to heavy snowfall at Sadhna Top and Razdan pass. Several other roads to far-flung and remote areas also remained closed due to heavy snowfall.
(UNI)