Baramulla-Uri widening turns highway into daily nightmare for commuters

Baramulla, Jan 2: Vehicular traffic on the Baramulla–Uri road remained suspended for several hours on Friday after landslides struck the highway amid ongoing road-widening works, triggering panic among commuters and bringing movement on both sides to a halt.
Officials confirmed that no injuries or vehicle damage occurred, but recurrent incidents during earth-cutting have heightened fears of worse incidents in winter.
“Clearance operations were taken up immediately after the landslide occurred,” an official said.
“Fortunately, no one was hurt, and efforts were made on priority to remove debris and restore the road,” said an on-duty police official, adding that traffic was gradually allowed from both sides after clearance.
The project site in-charge said the slide occurred during ongoing excavation work. “Such incidents sometimes happen during construction, but our teams acted swiftly to clear the road and ensure the safety of commuters. We diverted Uri-bound traffic via Khadniyar while allowing Baramulla-bound vehicles after one-way clearance,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Baramulla, Minga Sherpa, said the landslide was a result of ongoing construction activities and that mitigation measures are being taken to prevent future occurrences.
“We are adopting scientific methods of earth-cutting to avert such incidents. Any illegal activities contributing to instability will be dealt with strictly. Earlier, a mining work near Drangbal was stopped after it triggered a major slide and posed a risk to lives,” the DC said.
Similarly, District Mineral Officer (DMO) Baramulla, Zulfikar Ahmed Bhat, clarified that Friday’s landslide was not linked to illegal mining activities. “The incident occurred due to construction-related excavation, not due to any unauthorised extraction work,” he said.
Locals, however, expressed concern over recurrent landslides along the stretch, urging authorities to expedite safe and sustainable construction practices to avoid further disruptions.
They report long traffic jams, hours‑long halts and repeated diversions as earth‑cutting, excavation and muck‑dumping narrow the existing carriageway at multiple spots.
It is noteworthy that the Baramulla–Uri stretch of the Srinagar–Baramulla–Uri highway is being widened to improve traffic flow, support tourism and border trade and ease movement towards Uri and frontier areas. (KNO)