Ramban, Mar. 19: Road repair work near Dalwass on Tuesday morning caused the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the sole surface route connecting Kashmir with the rest of the nation, to stay closed for three hours.
According to officials, traffic on both sides of Dalwass was stopped around 6:30 a.m. to allow for essential repairs.
They said that in order to stabilize the slick road section at Dalwass, the businesses hired by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) repaired the roads by putting stones and pebbles. This led to the halt of traffic on both sides.
According to officials, the highway reopened on Tuesday at approximately ten in the morning for two-way traffic.
The first step involved clearing traffic on stranded roads. They then permitted regular two-way traffic to continue on both sides of the roadway.
Officials said, “After it, load carriers headed for Srinagar, carrying necessary supplies, were also permitted to proceed.”
The authorities in charge of traffic control on the Ramban route allowed load carriers who stopped at Qazigund to continue their journey towards Jammu in the afternoon.
However, they said that because of the poor quality of the road surface between the Nashri and Banihal sectors, there were single-lane road sections at Dalwass, Mehar-Cafeteria, Panthyal, Magarkote, Hingni, and many other locations, which contributed to the sluggish flow of vehicle traffic.
They said that up until late Tuesday night, hundreds of heavy and light trucks (LMVs) traveled through the Nashri-Banihal area on their way to Kashmir.
Traffic officials encouraged drivers and commuters to observe lane discipline in the meantime.
They said that since there are several small, single-lane road sections between Nashri and Banihal, overtaking would cause traffic congestion.
