SRINAGAR: Heavy downpour again hampered the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) efforts to restore traffic on the landslide-hit Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, which remained closed for the sixth consecutive day on Sunday.
Officials said continuous rainfall has slowed down clearance work on the 250-metre buried stretch at Thard in Udhampur district, where a hill collapsed over the road. Explosives have been used to blast giant boulders, but restoration remains delayed.
“The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway is still closed for vehicular movement. Restoration work is going on,” a traffic department official said, urging travellers not to undertake journeys until the road is cleared. NHAI’s Ramban sector project manager, Shubam, said men and machines are engaged despite adverse conditions. “The rains again caused disruption in the restoration efforts this morning. Work is progressing at a slow pace,” he said.
The highway, the only all-weather link between Kashmir and the rest of the country, was closed on September 2, just two days after partial traffic was restored to clear hundreds of stranded vehicles. The prolonged closure, virtually for a fortnight, has left trucks carrying horticultural produce and essential commodities stuck on either side.
On Saturday, officials said that restoration work suffered major setbacks after two heavy spells of rain washed away progress. “What we had gained during the day on Friday was washed away by half-an-hour rainfall the next morning. Again rain started at around 3.30 pm and spoiled our efforts,” Shubam Yadav, NHAI Project Director, Ramban-Udhampur sector, had said.
IGP Traffic JK Suleman Choudhary confirmed that rain disrupted work at the Thard bottleneck. He said the road is expected to reopen once the weather permits.
While the Jammu-Srinagar highway remains blocked, the Mughal Road connecting Poonch and Rajouri with Shopian is open for light motor vehicles. However, the Kishtwar-Sinthan-Anantnag road remained closed for the fourth consecutive day. Reasi-Mahore road was restored to traffic on Saturday.
The pilgrimage to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills also remained suspended for the 13th straight day on Sunday. The yatra was stopped after a landslide on August 26 at Adhkuwari killed 34 people and injured 20 others. Shrine Board officials said the track has been cleared of debris and repaired, and a decision on resumption will be taken after reviewing the weather next week.
Meanwhile, widespread damage has been reported across the Jammu division. Over the past 48 hours, officials said at least two dozen houses were damaged in Udhampur district’s Dudu Sub Division, with losses reported from Bandole, Chapper, Panchount and Kolak villages. In Ramban, families from Rajgarh and Mahore were shifted to safer locations due to sinking land, while one house collapsed at Haldno, leaving an elderly woman injured.
In a humanitarian response, the Indian Air Force on Saturday airlifted two critically ill patients from Latti area of Dudu Sub Division to Udhampur after road connectivity was cut off by landslides. One was admitted to Military Hospital Udhampur and the other to Government Medical College Udhampur.
Amid this widespread disruption, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has restored traffic on the Basohli-Bani road in Kathua district by cutting a fresh stretch to bypass a washed-out portion at Tikri Morh. The defence spokesperson said this challenging task, completed in treacherous conditions, has re-established connectivity between Basohli and Bhaderwah.
The Meteorological Department has forecast light to moderate rain or thundershowers in many places across Jammu and Kashmir on September 7 and 8, with another spell expected between September 9 and 12.
