Jammu/Udhampur: The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained closed to traffic on Friday to facilitate widening of the carriageway and removal of debris at vulnerable locations between Udhampur and Banihal, officials said.
According to the Traffic Police, the closure was enforced after the passage of an Amarnath Yatra convoy comprising around 1,600 pilgrims from the Jammu base camp in the early hours of Friday.
Traffic was suspended between Jakheni in Udhampur and the Navyug Tunnel in Banihal to allow restoration work on the strategic highway. No vehicles were allowed to move beyond Nagrota towards Srinagar, Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban and Patnitop, or beyond Qazigund towards Ramban, Udhampur and Jammu.
The decision followed requests from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), with the district administrations of Udhampur and Ramban permitting the work in the interest of commuter safety.
The works include widening the hill-side carriageway at Ladha and Samroli and removing loose overhanging debris near Gangroo and Kishtwari Pather along the Udhampur-Banihal stretch.
Meanwhile, NHAI said restoration work was delayed due to inclement weather and the fall of two large boulders at Dewal in Udhampur district.
NHAI Project Director Shubham Yadav said the highway was expected to be restored for two-way traffic by around 11 pm on Friday.
He said 10 machines had been deployed at the site and work was being carried out on a war footing. According to Yadav, Friday was declared a “traffic dry day” to facilitate widening and debris clearance at the Dewal Bridge stretch, a major bottleneck on the highway.
He said the widening work is aimed at improving the road surface and increasing traffic-carrying capacity to ease congestion and ensure smoother movement of Amarnath Yatra convoys as well as regular traffic.
