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Jammu-Kashmir: On Monday, official said that after a landslide incident, the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Gangroo has been blocked. The official added that this comes after traffic was disrupted for several hours to repair some cracks that were found in the middle of the road near Banihal.
Traffic department officials said vehicular movement on the 270-km-long highway – the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country – was suspended from both sides at around 11.30 am after “some cracks developed in the middle of the road at Hingni in Ramban district”.
They said that the stranded traffic on the highway was restored after repair work that lasted for over five hours. The highway has been witnessing continuous disruptions due to heavy rains for the past five days, leading to landslides, mudslides and boulders falling from hillocks at several places including Mehad, Gangroo, Kishtwari Pather and Dalwas between Nashri and Banihal tunnels – the most problematic stretch of this arterial road.
However, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) managed to keep the highway open by clearing the landslide debris in time. The highway is being widened to four lanes and the project has been underway since 2011. After missing several deadlines over the past decade. The work, which includes several small and big tunnels, bridges and flyovers, is likely to be completed by next year.
