Sgr-Jmu highway remains closed

Srinagar, Feb 21: The 294-km-long Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remained closed since last night due to landslides and shooting stones in Ramban district, leaving thousands of vehicles stranded on the highway, officials said on Tuesday.
An official said that the landslides and shooting stones incident between Ramban to Banihal has shut the highway since last night. “The major landslide and shooting stone activity took place at Shalgadi, near Banihal,” he said.
He said the road clearance agencies have been pressed into the service to clear the debris but the continuous landslide and shooting stone activity have been hampering the road clearance operation. The official said almost 2,000 vehicles are stranded on both sides of the highway.
Moreover, the district administration Ramban and Himalayan QRT Ramsoo has made accommodation and dinner arrangements for stranded passengers on the highway.
“Around 80 stranded passengers have been accommodated at Ramsoo. More coming in. NH-44 remains closed,” Deputy Commissioner Ramban tweeted.
Meanwhile, the authorities have advised the commuters to undertake the journey on the National Highway only after confirming the status of the road from Traffic Control Units of Ramban, Srinagar and Jammu. (KNO)