Traffic on Jammu-Srinagar highway suspended due to multiple landslides

Banihal/Jammu: Traffic was suspended on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway early on Saturday after heavy rainfall triggered multiple landslides and shooting stones in the Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

The 270-km highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, was blocked at over half a dozen places between Nashri and Banihal, they said.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) have mobilised men and machines to clear the highway for one-way traffic, officials said.

Traffic on the highway has been restricted to one-way since February 26 and was being used alternatively from Jammu and Srinagar after heavy rains and snowfall damaged the arterial road at several places last week.

According to the meteorological department, Banihal recorded the highest 74.4 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours, ending around 8.30 am on Saturday.

It said snowfall in high-altitude areas and rains in the plains will continue at most places in the Union territory. The weather is likely to improve gradually on Saturday night.