CONDITION OF HIGHWAY

Government is monitoring the Srinagar-Jammu highway as after the recent heavy rains again it was closed due to the landslides triggered by these rains.

Although the government is very keen for the opening of the highway as soon as possible, the bottlenecks are being removed slowly all along the highway.

Recently the Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir in a review meeting has asked the officials for strict action against ‘Overloaded’ Load Carriers.

He directed opening of Panthayal Tunnel by 15th April 2022, he reviewed the condition of the National Highway-44 connecting Jammu and Srinagar, and took stock of the traffic movement thereon.

The Department has prioritized construction and maintenance of the national highway-44 which has kept the highway open for vehicular traffic even during extreme weather vagaries.

He apprised of the recent traffic disruption on the highway due to the breakdown of an overloaded vehicle carrying 36-ton dry ration in violation of the laid down norms.

He directed for ascertaining reasons for the incident to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future. He further directed the NHAI and traffic police to forthwith put in place a mechanism for calibrated checking of all load carriers to prevent plying of overloaded vehicles, which not only disrupts the usual traffic flow but also compromises the road quality.

He maintained that all load-carrying vehicles are to be passed through weighing bridges at toll plazas in a staggered manner to avoid any jams and action against overloaded vehicles is to be initiated to ensure smooth flow of traffic.