Kashmir highway opened for stranded vehicles, travelers get respite

Srinagar: The authorities on Tuesday allowed the vehicles stranded on Srinagar-Jammu highway to move to their destinations in Kashmir and Jammu as the landslides were cleared at Digdol near Ramban.
Witnesses told Kashmir Horizon over phone “the stranded vehicles at Digdol headed for Jammu were allowed to move in the late afternoon hours and similarly the stranded vehicles at Ramban headed for Srinagar were also allowed to move to Srinagar after the clearance of vehicles headed for Jammu”. One of the witnesses told Kashmir Horizon “the passengers stranded at Digdol on their way to Jammu are crying for the accommodation and food facilities not facilitated by the district administration Ramban despite repeated pleas and reminders”. As reported already the traffic on Kashmir highway was shut for three days last week and opened for one way traffic from Srinagar to Jammu last Sunday but the highway was on Monday shut again due to landslides and stone shooting triggered by fresh snowfall at several places on Banihal-Ramban track. The frequent shutting of the highway leads to unprecedented rise in the prices of essential commodities and shortage of petrol, diesel and LPG cooking cylinders in valley as it takes even a week for the oil tankers and trucks loaded with essential commodities to reach Jammu with fresh supplies. The highway connecting Kashmir with Jammu and rest of the country is vulnerable to traffic movement in view of the landslides and stone shooting triggered by the excavation work on Banihal-Ramban track.