by Umar Raina
Srinagar: Traffic was suspended yet again on Friday on the strategic 434Km Srinagar-Leh highway following fresh snowfall at Zojila and Sonamarg in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
The Famous tourist resort of Sonamarg received around two inches snow while rains lashed the other areas of the district including Gund, Gagangir, Kullan, Ganiwan, Kangan, Wusan and Ganderbal.
The 434-km Srinagar-Leh highway has been temporarily closed due to fresh snowfall at Zojila pass. “Traffic was temporarily suspended on the highway after fresh snow caused slippery conditions and slides at few places,” said an official.
To restore traffic on the highway, traffic department said Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has already been pressed into restoration service.
Though the highway is open for both ways only one-way traffic is allowed at Zojila where the road is still very narrow because of huge walls of snow on both sides.
The historic Mughal road, linking Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu was also closed for traffic movement following landslides in Pir-ki-Gali area. The authorities have already pressed into service sophisticated machines to put through the road, which is also seen as an alternative to Srinagar-Jammu national highway.
