Planning To Visit Kashmir Via Road? Jammu-Srinagar NH Shut After Landslides, Check Out The Alternative Route

Rajouri/Jammu: As the landslide-hit Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained close for a 2nd consecutive day on Monday, the reopening of the Mughal Road connecting the dual border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu to south Kashmir’s Shopian district introduced large reduction to the stranded other folks.

The government had to begin with determined to limit site visitors at the lately opened Mughal Road to 1 manner — Kashmir to Jammu. However, the all-weather nationwide freeway’s closure caused the diversion of site visitors and the deployment of extra police team of workers to make sure easy motion on either side, officers mentioned.

Hundreds of cars had been left stranded at the strategic 250-kilometre Jammu-Srinagar National Highway — the one all-weather street linking Kashmir with the remainder of the rustic — after Sunday’s heavy rainfall and cloudbursts brought about flash floods, landslides and mudslides in Ramban district.

The ancient Mughal Road, which typically stays closed all over the winters because of heavy blizzard, particularly in Peer Ki Gali, used to be reopened after 3 months for one-way site visitors on April 15.

However, inclement climate, together with recent blizzard, pressured its closure on April 18. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) mobilised its males and equipment and controlled to make it traffic-worthy once more.

The Centre has already introduced a tunnel at the street to make sure year-round connectivity between the 2 areas on all sides of the Pir Panjal that bureaucracy a part of the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat following a 2022 delimitation workout.

The officers mentioned large site visitors congestion used to be witnessed within the dual districts of Rajouri and Poonch because of a unexpected build up within the collection of cars shifting to and from the Kashmir valley.

Almost the entire roads of Rajouri and Poonch related to the Mughal Road are closely choked, with regulation enforcement companies going through a tricky time regulating site visitors, particularly in Thanamandi, Surankote and Chatta Pani to Peer Ki Gali, they mentioned.

The street is single-way at a couple of places between Chatta Pandi and Peer Ki Gali, inflicting site visitors motion to be sluggish, they added. “We are planning to undertake a clearance operation tonight to widen the road, which is snow-bound at various locations,” a BRO authentic mentioned.

Despite the Centre making a statement to improve the street and assemble a tunnel in 2023, political events were not easy a timeline for of entirety of the challenge on a battle footing to supply an alternate all-weather street to the valley.

“We have time and again requested the government to construct a tunnel on the Mughal Road and set up all kinds of amenities for travellers,” Apni Party spokesperson Raqeeq Khan mentioned.

Traffic has been diverted to the Mughal Road however the dual districts of Rajouri and Poonch don’t seem to be able to deal with one of these heavy rush, he mentioned.

There may be a loss of amenities corresponding to eating places, inns and public bathrooms alongside the street, inflicting inconvenience for commuters, he added.