The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was closed on Thursday, May 9, after a landslide. As per to the reports, the officials said that the landslide has occurred at Digdole in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district. Digdole Village is basically located in the sub district of Ramban district in the state Jammu & Kashmir in India. The nearby town of the village is Ramabn and the distance from Digdole village to Ramabn is 10 km.
Because of the landslide, the state traffic police have restricted the movement of vehicles due to which no one is allowed to pass the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. The work for clearing the highway has been started but due to the landslide and blockage of highway many commuters have been stranded.
The people who got mostly affected by the landslide in Jammu-Srinagar National Highway are the travellers, now they can’t move to the other side till the roads are clear. They are also waiting for the official notice or permission by the state traffic police so that they can move easily on the highway.
The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway is the northernmost segment of NH 44, it was previously known as NH 1A earlier the renumbering of all national highways. The highway runs from Srinagar which is located in the Kashmir Valley southward to the city of Jammu.
It is basically one of the two road links that joins the Kashmir Valley with the other parts of India. The traffic on the highway is well organised by total of two control rooms, one in Srinagar and the other in Jammu.
The highway starts from Lal Chowk, Srinagar and then it passes through various Jammu & Kashmir district such as Pulwama district, Anantnag district, Kulgam district, Ramban district, and Udhampur district, and then finally ends in Jammu city.
The 300-kilometre long Jammu-Srinagar highway joins the Kashmir valley with the rest of India. The necessary supplies reach the Valley through this highway and that’s why the highway is very crucial for the locals living in the valley.
Weather remains one of the most travel hazards in Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. In February 2019, the nonstop rain ended up in giant avalanches and landslides at numerous points in the mountains. This then also leads to closed the highway for about a week, which then leads to rationing of petrol and diesel fuel all over the Kashmir Valley.
When such kind of hazards takes place, the control rooms at times avert vehicles from starting a journey. Vehicles already on the highway may also not be able to continue, or might continue only in single file or with an attendant vehicle. Travellers face many problems due to this and during this time period they have to make spontaneous arrangements for overnight stays.
