Jammu-Srinagar highway remains closed, 1,600 passengers airlifted

SRINAGAR: Essential supplies dwindled in Kashmir Valley as the Jammu-Srinagar highway — the 300-km road link connecting the Valley to the rest of the country —remained closed for the past one week due to landslides because of bad weather.

On the request of the state government, the air force on Tuesday made sorties from Udhampur to Srinagar and back to lift passengers stranded in Jammu for several days.

Earlier, the passengers travelled in state road transport corporation buses from Ramban to Udhampur.

Divisional commissioner Kashmir Baseer Khan said till evening, over 900 passengers were airlifted from Udhampur to Srinagar, while 700 were allowed to board on the return flights from Srinagar.

Officials said as the weather remained favourable, a makeshift track was made through the areas hit by landslide in Ramban and Ramsu on Tuesday to allow about 200 light motor and passenger vehicles stranded on the highway to pass.

There are still about 1,500 heavy motor vehicles and trucks carrying essentials that are stuck on the highway.

“For the past two-three days, there has been improvement in the weather. There have been heavy landslides in Ramban and Ramsu and shooting stones in Panthal. We have managed to remove the debris to a large extent and make a makeshift track for one-way traffic of light motor vehicles,” said SSP traffic (rural) Aijaz Ahmad Bhat.

While there are enough vegetables available in the Valley, meat and poultry supplies have dried up.