Umaisar Gul Ganaie
Srinagar, Oct 17: The damages and destructive effects caused by the landslide are still evident on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
On Thursday evening, a major retaining wall suddenly collapsed in the Dalwas area near Ramban, resulting in the closure of one tube of the highway to traffic.
According to reports, a section of about 50 meters of the retaining wall, as well as a large portion of the link road leading to the Saoni Panchayat, suddenly collapsed in the Darwas area of the highway. As a result, a part of the four-lane highway was affected, and vehicle movement in this area has slowed significantly.
It was stated that after the wall collapsed and one tube of the highway was closed, traffic from both sides was diverted to another road. By this evening, hundreds of passenger and freight vehicles had traveled via the highway, while repair work continued at the Dalwas site.
Local residents of Dalwas said over the phone that the collapse of the highway wall also took away a large part of the link road to Saoni Panchayat, severely affecting the movement of the local population.
When contacted, Shubham Yadav, Project Director of the National Highways Authority of India, said that about 40 to 45 meters of the concrete retaining wall in the Darwas area had collapsed, and since last evening, one tube of the highway has been closed to traffic.
He said that restoration work has begun to make the affected road passable again, and efforts are underway to reopen the closed tube to general traffic as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, after several weeks, passenger vehicles have been allowed to move in both directions on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, while freight vehicles are still only allowed to move in one direction.
Police officials said Friday evening that passenger vehicles have been permitted to travel in both directions since this morning, but freight vehicles are only allowed from Jammu towards Srinagar. Passenger vehicles are permitted to travel from Jammu only between 8 am and 11 am, and vehicles crossing the Banihal Tunnel must do so between 7 am and 10 am; drivers are advised to plan their journeys accordingly.
Officials also said that the condition of the road at several locations on the highway is quite poor, causing slow traffic movement. Furthermore, the continuous movement of freight convoys, the deteriorating condition of the highway, and the daily migration of Gujjar and Bakarwal communities with their livestock from Kashmir to the plains of Jammu continue to impact the flow of traffic on a daily basis.
