By IANS,
Srinagar : For the first time since the Srinagar-Jammu highway was blocked due to heavy snowfall and avalanches last week, authorities Wednesday allowed vehicles to move from here to the state’s winter capital.
“Our first priority had been to clear the stranded vehicles carrying passengers and essential supplies to the Valley from Jammu. Today (Wednesday), vehicles will move on the highway from Srinagar to Jammu,” said a traffic department official.
He said no vehicle will be allowed to move in the opposite direction to ensure unhindered and safe passage of the vehicles.
Meanwhile, hundreds of trucks and other types of vehicles were stranded in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on the highway, waiting for their chance to cross the Jawahar Tunnel where the road conditions are extremely slippery.
Reports reaching here said a truck had skidded in slippery conditions and was blocking the highway in the Bannihal sector of the road.
“The truck is being removed to clear that portion of the highway. Around 600 vehicles will move from Srinagar to Jammu today (Wednesday),” Brigadier T.P.S. Rawat, chief engineer of the Border Roads Organisation, told IANS.