Jammu: The Jammu-Srinagar national highway was reopened only for stranded vehicles on Saturday after being closed for four days owing to multiple landslides and caving-in of a 60-meter stretch in Udhampur district following record rainfall earlier this week, a senior official said.
However, normal traffic is yet to resume on the 250-km road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country.
National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) Project Director, Ramban, Shubam said efforts are on to ensure early reopening of the highway for normal traffic.
“We had almost completed the restoration work at 6 pm on Friday and were hopeful of allowing traffic on the strategic highway this (Saturday) morning. But fresh overnight rains hampered our efforts,” he told PTI.
Shubam said the work was restarted immediately on a 60-meter stretch of the road, which caved in at Benali Nallah between Chenani and Udhampur.
After taking some time to allow the boulder base to settle down, the stranded vehicles, especially those carrying perishable items, including fruit-laden trucks, oil tankers and light motor vehicles were allowed to move on from both ends in a regulated manner.
According to officials, more than 2,000 vehicles were stranded on either end of the highway after the August 26 rainfall, which flooded low-lying areas and left a trail of death and destruction in the Jammu region.
Udhampur received the highest recorded rainfall of 630 mm for the same 24-hour period ending 8.30 am on August 27, surpassing the earlier highest of 342 mm on July 31, 2019, while Jammu logged 380 mm of rainfall during the same period, the highest ever recorded in the city since 1910 when the observatory was set up.
“The rest of the highway was already cleared of landslide debris and stones at various places in the Ramban sector. The main problem was the Udhampur-Chenani stretch, and 90 per cent of the work is almost complete.
“If weather permits and there is no damage, we are likely to open the highway on Sunday for normal traffic after clearing all stranded vehicles,” the NHAI official said.
A traffic department official said the vehicles are playing on the Mughal Road that links Poonch and Rajouri districts in the Jammu region with south Kashmir’s Shopian, and the Sinthan Top road that links Kishtwar district in Jammu and south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
There was a mudslide near Parna-Chingam along the Sinthan Top road, but it was cleared by the officials and made motorable this morning, the official said.
He said traffic is also plying on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway, though one tube each of Sahar Khad and Lakhanpur-Madhopur bridges remained closed and traffic was diverted to the second tube.
Kashmiri fruit growers welcome reopening of Jammu-Srinagar highway for stranded vehicles
The reopening of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway for stranded vehicles after a four-day gap has brought relief for the fruit growers of Kashmir, who were staring at huge losses given the low shelf-life of their produce.
They are now hoping for a quick resumption of normal traffic on the 250-km road, the lifeline of their livelihood. The road links Kashmir with the rest of the country.
The Jammu-Srinagar national highway was reopened only for stranded vehicles on Saturday after being closed for four days owing to multiple landslides and caving-in of a 60-metre stretch in Udhampur district following record rainfall earlier this week.
According to officials, more than 2,000 vehicles had been stranded at multiple places on either end of the highway after the August 26 rainfall, which flooded low-lying areas and left a trail of death and destruction in the Jammu region.
After taking some time to allow the boulder base to settle down, the stranded vehicles, especially those carrying perishable items, including fruit-laden trucks, oil tankers and light motor vehicles were allowed to move on from both ends in a regulated manner.
National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) Project Director, Ramban, Shubam said efforts are on to ensure early reopening of the highway for normal traffic.
“We had almost completed the restoration work at 6 pm on Friday and were hopeful of allowing traffic on the strategic highway this (Saturday) morning. But fresh overnight rains hampered our efforts,” he told PTI.
The news has been a reason to cheer for the fruit growers of Kashmir.
Fruit-laden trucks from Kashmir had been stranded for days due to the closure of the critical highway following heavy rains and flash floods, with growers expressing apprehensions of losses.
Chairman of the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers-cum-Dealers Union, Bashir Ahmad Basheer, said 700 to 800 fruit trucks were stranded on the highway with each carrying items worth Rs 5-9 lakh.
These were loaded with fruits like Bagogosha pears, Galamast apples, and Red Ghala apples, which perish within days if the temperature is not regulated, he told PTI.
The prices were already down, and the closure of the highway had added to our worries, Basheer said.
“The harvest season for early fruit varieties is on, and the trucks with perishable produce were waiting for transportation. It could have been a disaster for us with losses running into crores had the trucks not moved,” he added.
Explaining why the reopening of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was so critical for them, Basheer said that while the authorities had allowed fruit movement on the Mughal Road, that route can be travelled by six-tyre trucks, which carry less load.
“Most of the fruit, almost 90 per cent, is transported in heavy trucks having 10-16 tyres. We want the government to allow at least 10-tyre trucks on the Mughal Road round-the-clock,” he said.
Basheer said 10-tyre trucks transport fruit to Delhi and not beyond. “To transport our produce beyond Delhi, the movement of the heavy trucks is essential,” he explained.
Abrar Ahmad, a fruit grower in the Ganderbal district of central Kashmir, said transportation on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway has always been a problem, and expressed hope that once the Railway Cargo Service starts in the last week of September, moving their produce to the market would become hassle-free.
The Northern Railways will start a daily Joint Parcel Product- Railway Cargo Service (JPP-RCS) between Budgam and New Delhi from September to ensure faster and direct transportation of the Valley’s fruit produce to the nation’s markets.
The service was approved by the Railway Board this month, and the first train is expected to leave from Kashmir for Delhi in the last week of September.
“The service will cut dependence on the highway, which often faces problems due to weather and traffic congestion. With that, large volumes of fruit can be taken to Delhi markets directly, and that too in time. It will be a faster and more reliable way of transport,” the fruit grower added.
Ensure swift restoration of Jammu-Srinagar highway: CM Abdullah tells authorities
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday reviewed the condition of Jammu-Srinagar national highway and directed the authorities to ensure its swift restoration.
The national highway remained closed for vehicular traffic on Saturday due to multiple landslides triggered by heavy rains in the Udhampur-Ramban belt.
“The chief minister chaired a meeting to review the condition of Jammu-Srinagar NH-44 and other national highways and major roads damaged by the recent incessant rains,” the Chief Minister’s Office said in a post on X.
It said Abdullah directed the authorities to ensure swift restoration of the roads, smooth traffic movement, and uninterrupted supply of essentials, particularly to the Valley and remote areas.
The chief minister emphasised the need for close coordination among departments to provide timely updates and respond promptly to public needs, the post said.
The meeting was attended by Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary to the CM Dheeraj Gupta, Principal Secretary Home, Principal Secretary Public Works (R&B), Divisional Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir, several Deputy Commissioners, and senior officers from BRO, NHIDCL, NHAI, J&K Police and other concerned departments, an official press release informed.
Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo briefed the meeting about the condition of NH-44, describing its restoration as the top priority since it is the lifeline connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country. He stressed the importance of facilitating movement of perishable commodities like fruit from the Valley and highlighted the grim situation in areas such as Kishtwar and Udhampur, which are facing outages of power, drinking water, road connectivity and mobile networks.
He further underlined the need for temporary restoration of highways such as Dhar–Mahanpur, Ramban–Gool, and Reasi–Mahore to reconnect affected districts.
The Chief Minister enquired about the stock position of ration, fuel and medicines in cut-off places like Bani, Kishtwar, Reasi and Udhampur. He directed officers to replenish supplies through alternate routes — including via Anantnag for Kishtwar and through Bhaderwah for Bani — until full restoration of roads is achieved.
Divisional Commissioner Jammu informed the meeting about the ongoing restoration works on NH-44, resumption of supplies into the Valley, and special trains being run to facilitate passengers and tourists. He assured that there is no shortage of ration, fuel or other essentials in Jammu and efforts are being made to keep cut-off areas adequately stocked.
Similarly, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir informed that the Valley has sufficient supplies of fuel and ration.
The Chief Minister also directed that all roads under BRO, NHAI, NHIDCL and other agencies that remain disconnected be monitored closely, with status reports shared with his office twice daily — morning and evening.
