Flip-flop on highway as hundreds Kashmir-bound vehicles stranded on Saturday

MK Reporter/Agencies
Srinagar: Authorities on Saturday morning claimed that they have cleared the highway for the traffic and allowed hundreds of vehicles including trucks with essential supplies to proceed towards Kashmir Valley. By Noon of Saturday, they were stopped at various places resulting in traffic jams and panic among the people who had started their journey early in the morning.
Many of the stranded passengers told this reporter on telephone that there is a mess on the road with traffic cops almost absent. The stranded passengers expressed concern that why they were told to proceed to Srinagar when the highway was still under the impact of landslides. In the past two months, the highway has remained virtually closed with authorities making it possible only for the trucks laden with essential supplies to reach to Srinagar.
Meanwhile according to PTI, the traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway resumed on Saturday after remaining suspended for three consecutive days due to snowfall and multiple landslides, an official said.
Heavy snowfall around the Jawahar Tunnel — the gateway to Kashmir — and landslides triggered by incessant rains at over half a dozen places between Banihal and Ramban had forced the authorities to suspend vehicular movement on the highway.
“The debris was cleared and the road was made traffic-worthy by Friday evening, thus allowing the authorities to clear the large number of stranded vehicles,” deputy superintendent of police (traffic), national highway, Suresh Sharma told PTI.
“However, shooting of stones and two landslides in Digdole area overnight disrupted the movement of traffic once again. After hectic efforts, the road was cleared and the Kashmir-bound traffic was allowed from Jammu on Saturday morning,” he said.
He added that no vehicle was being allowed from the opposite direction to avoid a traffic jam. The traffic is plying smoothly and hundreds of vehicles, including trucks carrying essential commodities, have crossed the Jawahar Tunnel till this afternoon, Sharma said.