Over 1000 Stranded Vehicles Cleared, Fresh Traffic Likely To Be Restored Today
Jammu- The 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway was reopened for stranded vehicles Saturday after remaining closed for three consecutive days owing to multiple landslides in Ramban district, officials said.
The highway was closed on Thursday evening after the arterial road was blocked by landslides triggered by heavy rains at several places between Panthiyal and Ramsu, leaving more than 1,000 vehicles including passenger vehicles and Kashmir-bound trucks carrying essential commodities stranded at different places.
The officials said the road clearance operation at Panthiyal, Cafetaria morh and Mehar was speeded up with improvement in the weather on Saturday morning and after several hours of hectic efforts, the road was cleared for stranded vehicles late afternoon.
The iron and steel tunnel at Panthiyal was almost completely damaged by the shooting stones from the hillock overlooking the highway, the officials said.
They said hundreds of stranded passengers were provided food and shelter by the Ramban district administration.
“Only the stranded vehicles were allowed to move towards their destinations after the road clearance agencies cleared the debris and made the road traffic worthy,” a traffic department official said.
He said the fresh traffic from the twin capitals is likely to be restored on Sunday morning, depending on the road condition. However, there will be one-way restrictions on the heavy motor vehicles plying on the highway.
Meanwhile, an Army official said the Army evacuated 34 sportspersons including Kickboxer champion Tajamul Islam from north Kashmir’s Bandipora from Panthiyal Friday night and arranged accommodation and food for them at Banihal.
Islam, who recently won a gold medal in the U-14 World Kickboxing Championship held in Cairo, Egypt, along with nine other girls, 13 boys and 11 officials and coaches from Haider Sports Academy were going to attend the national trials for kickboxing in Delhi’s Talkatora Indoor Stadium, the official said.
He said they got stuck near Panthiyal due to heavy rain and landslides and were noticed by an army patrol party. As soon as the sports faculty contacted the 12 Rashtriya Rifles Battalion, a team went to evacuate them and to provide them with all necessary assistance.
All the sports persons were thankful to the Army for their assistance, the official said.
Fresh Snowfall, Low Visibility Delays Flights
The fresh light snowfall in Srinagar and elsewhere in Kashmir delayed the flight operations at Srinagar international airport due to low visibility in the early morning on Saturday.
Several areas across Kashmir including Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir received fresh snowfall since the wee hours of this morning. The wet weather conditions continued intermittently till afternoon.
Officials at the Srinagar international airport said that the flight operation remained suspended till 10:30 AM due to the fresh snowfall and low visibility.
They said that the flight operation was resumed again after the weather conditions and visibility improved.
“All the flights were operated. No flight has got cancelled,” they said.
Meanwhile, the Director Meteorological department (MeT) has predicted more rains and snow at isolated places in Kashmir tomorrow.
There is a possibility of cloudy weather conditions tomorrow with chances of light rain and snow at isolated places of Kashmir, he said, adding that the weather would remain dry in Jammu region tomorrow.
The MeT director has also advised people to stay alert and away from avalanche prone areas.
The Jammu and Kashmir Disaster Management Authority (JKDMA) has also issued an avalanche warning for 12 districts of Jammu & Kashmir in the upcoming 24 hours.
The DMA has issued a ‘Medium Level’ warning above 2000 to 2500 metres over Anantnag, Bandipora, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Kupwara, Kulgam, Doda, Kishtwar, Poonch Rajouri and Reasi districts.
It also expressed apprehension of ‘Low Level’ avalanche occurrence above 2200 metres over Anantnag, Kulgam and Ramban district.
People living in the specified areas have been advised to take precautions and avoid venturing in the avalanche prone areas, the advisory reads further.
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