Ramban flash flood: Jammu-Srinagar highway closed for 3rd consecutive day

Jammu, April 22: The strategic Jammu-Srinagar national highway remained closed for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, and officials said it would take five more days to restore the highway.

Engineers of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said the highway is damaged at 22 locations, and restoration work is in full swing.

Landslides triggered by flash floods killed three people on Sunday in Ramban district, while over 100 were rescued.

Nearly 4 to 5 km of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was completely washed away, and the debris buried many vehicles under it.

Hundreds of passengers are stranded on the highway as authorities stepped in to provide shelter and food to the stranded passengers.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, braving adverse weather, reached Kali Morh on the highway on Monday to personally supervise the relief operation and assess the damage.

He said the damage was huge, but the disaster happened at a local level and as such, it cannot be declared as a ‘national disaster’.

The Mughal Road connecting the south Kashmir Shopian district with Rajouri district of Jammu division is at present open for one-way traffic for light motor vehicles (LMVs).

The blockade of the Jammu-Srinagar highway has also created a rush for air tickets as tourists and locals going out of the Valley prefer air travel over the uncertainty of surface travel.–(IANS)