Jammu-Srinagar highway reopens after 38-hour closure due to landslide

The one-way traffic resumed on the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway on Wednesday after remaining suspended for about 38-hours following a landslide in Ramban district, officials said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Traffic (national highway), Banihal, Asghar Malik said the road clearance operation at the landslide-hit Sher Bibi near Banihal was still going on.

Hundreds of vehicles were left stranded on the highway after a massive landslide blocked the arterial road at Sher Bibi around 2 am Tuesday. The road clearance operation was hampered by continuous shooting of stones from the hillock throughout the day.

“Despite intermittent shooting of stones, the road clearance agencies worked hard since this morning to ensure that the road is opened for one-way traffic which was allowed at around 4 pm (Wednesday),” Malik said.

No fresh traffic was allowed either from Srinagar or Jammu for the second day in the morning as authorities focused on road clearance operation and to clear the stranded vehicles on priority, a traffic department official said.

He said some more time is needed to make the road two-way at the landslide hit stretch.