Srinagar: The traffic on the strategic Srinagar-Ladakh highway was restored this afternoon after it was cleared off the mudslides and stones triggered due to cloud burst that occurred during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday in Ganderbal district, officials said.
The cloudburst in the Kawcherwan Kangan area triggered mudslides that closed the Srinagar-Ladakh highway for vehicular traffic besides causing damage to paddy fields, snapped electricity, and buried several vehicles under the debris. Some houses were also inundated due to water causing damage to the property.
However, there was no report of any loss of life in the incident, official sources said.
The authorities had put in service men and machinery since Sunday morning and cleared off the road from the mud and stones and stranded vehicles were allowed to move on the road from both sides this afternoon.
“Traffic restored on Srinagar-Kargil road at Kawcherwan Kangan area at 1500 hrs” Jammu and Kashmir traffic police posted on X.
Several villages in the Kangan area have also been severely affected by a series of cloud bursts, causing widespread damage to roads, houses, and crops, the locals said.
They said that the cloud bursts occurred in the villages of Kawcharwan, Cherwa, and Padabal, triggering mudslides that have blocked the Srinagar National Highway besides causing damage to paddy fields, roads, houses, and electricity.
Electric transformers, poles, and wires have also been damaged due to the cloudburst, a senior official of the Power Development Department (PDD) who visited the site
told the media.
“It will take two to three days to restore the electricity to the affected village of the district”, the officer said.
UNI
