Srinagar, Sep 10: After the weeklong blockade due to landslides, the strategic Jammu-Srinagar national highway was partially reopened for traffic on Wednesday. Authorities are giving priority to trucks carrying essential supplies, and top priority is being given to those trucks carrying perishable items like vegetables, poultry, sheep, etc.
Movement of stranded vehicles was allowed on the highway from Udhampur towards Srinagar, and to start with, passenger vehicles were the first to move. Over 4,500 trucks carrying fruit had been stuck on the highway due to the blockade, and these vehicles had remained parked alongside the highway in the Valley between Qazigund in Kulgam and the Pulwama district.
Most fruit growers have been complaining that the fresh fruit stocks of apples have started rotting because of the delay in reaching the markets outside Jammu and Kashmir. Over 250 metres of the highway had been washed away at Bani Nallah in Udhampur district due to incessant rainfall.
Traffic department officials said passenger vehicles and trucks carrying essential supplies, including chicken, meat, and other perishables, were allowed to move from Udhampur towards Srinagar starting at 10 a.m.
Officials said that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) completed restoration work late Tuesday night, creating a new diversion to make the road motorable. They said men and machinery worked round-the-clock for six days to create the alternate road at Bani Nallah to make vehicular movement possible.
The Jammu-Srinagar national highway is the lifeline of supplies for the landlocked Kashmir, as all essential supplies, including foodgrains, vegetables, poultry products, mutton, petroleum products, etc., are brought into the Valley through this highway.
The uncertainty that looms over the locals with regard to the arrival/departure of essential supplies would only become a thing of the past once freight trains start operations regularly on the rail link between Kashmir and the rest of the country.
IANS
