STATE TIMES NEWS
Jammu: Traffic on the strategic 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway was suspended Friday to allow the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to undertake necessary repair and maintenance work, officials said.
This was the second time in eight days that traffic on the highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, was suspended for 12 hours. The Jammu and Kashmir administration had earlier announced the suspension of vehicular traffic on the highway between Nashri and Banihal on February 24, March 3 and 10 to facilitate the NHAI to undertake important repair and maintenance work in the wake of damage caused by landslides, mudslides and shooting stones. “The highway was closed for traffic from Nashri towards Banihal and vice versa from 6 am Friday to 6 am Saturday. A similar dry day will also be observed on March 10,” a traffic department official said. He said no vehicular traffic was allowed either from Jammu or Srinagar on Friday morning to ensure repairs and maintenance of the highway in a hassle-free manner.