Battery car service briefly halted enroute Mata Vaishno Devi shrine
STATE TIMES NEWS
Banihal/KATRA: A landslide hit the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Ramban district on Monday, disrupting traffic movement in one lane of the strategic road, officials said.
The landslide occurred in the Kunfer area of Chanderkote, they said.
The 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway is the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country.
Traffic in one lane of the highway was affected due to the landside. The movement of traffic in the other lane remains unaffected, the officials said.
Deputy Superintendent of Police, Traffic Highway, Ramban, Iftiqar Ahmad said work to clear the affected road in Kunfer is underway and it will be completed in the next few hours.
A landslide triggered by heavy rains forced suspension of battery car service enroute to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district on Monday evening, officials said.
Heavy rains lashed the shrine and the adjoining areas including base camp Katra late afternoon, the officials said.
They said a landslide struck Himkoti, the battery car track, around 6 pm, forcing suspension of the service.
However, the men and machines immediately swung into action and the battery car service resumed within two hours after clearance of the track, the officials said.
They said the pilgrimage was going on smoothly when the last reports were received.