The 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was thrown open for one-way traffic from winter to summer capital today. However, the 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh National Highway remained closed while hundreds of villages, including those near the Line of Control (LoC) also remained cut off from their respective district and tehsil headquarters.
A traffic police official said here today that all the vehicles, particularly trucks, loaded with essentials, stranded between Banihal, Batote, Udhampur and Jammu, were allowed to move towards the Valley this morning.
He said only State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) buses, carrying passengers were also allowed from Jammu to Srinagar.
No light passenger or private vehicle was allowed as a precautionary measure.
Similarly no vehicle from Srinagar to Jammu was allowed today.
Official sources said most of the stranded vehicles, particularly trucks loaded with fruit and empty oil tankers at Qazigund and other places in south Kashmir were cleared yesterday.
Similarly, SRTC buses were allowed to ply on the highway from here to Jammu yesterday for stranded passengers.
However, hundreds of passengers, including non-state subjects, remained stranded here because of non availability of sufficient SRTC buses.
The Srinagar-Jammu national highway remained open for the one way traffic from Srinagar to Jammu today. However, only heavy vehicles were allowed to ply on the road.
Officials said that the traffic was allowed to move on the road only from Srinagar to Jammu and no vehicle was allowed to move in the opposite direction. “Due to slippery conditions of the road we allowed only one way traffic to ply on the highway. At least 2000 vehicles including 80 SRTC buses were allowed to move towards Jammu. 95 percent of the stranded trucks on this side of the tunnel were cleared today,” said Inspector General of Traffic, Hemant Kumar Lohia.
He said that tomorrow the road will remain open for only the stranded Srinagar bound stranded vehicles and the SRTC buses. “Still there are hundreds of supply trucks at halt on the other side of the road and we will try to clear them all tomorrow. Besides the SRTC buses will be allowed to move from Jammu to Srinagar,” IG said. About the movement of the light passenger vehicles on the road, the IG said, “The road is still slippery at many places and it will not be advisable to allow light vehicles to ply from either side. People can undertake the journey to Srinagar or Jammu in SRTC buses.” He also said that an SRTC bus towards Jammu will also be operated from Anantnag for the convenience of the people of south Kashmir.
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