Hindustan Times (Bathinda)

Jammu-srinagar national highway shut for sixth day

- HTC & PTI letterschd@hindustant­imes.com ■

JAMMU: The Valley remained cut off from the rest of the country for the sixth consecutiv­e day on Monday, due to the closure of the Jammu-srinagar national highway.the highway was closed on late Tuesday evening after it was blocked following accumulati­on of snow at Nowgam-jawahar tunnel-qazigund sector and multiple landslides between Ramban and Banihal.

The closure of the highway has left many vehicles stranded at different locations from Jammu to Ramban.though the highway was cleared of all the landslides debris on Sunday, a massive landslide occurred at Maroog, blocking more than 300m of road. Also, due to continuous shooting of stones it is likely that it will take at least three days to clear the debris, officials said.

“No vehicular movement was allowed on the highway on Monday as well. The road maintenanc­e agency carried out debris clearance work from the Maroog side but the debris continues to fall, hampering restoratio­n work,” an official said.

About 3,000 Kashmir-bound vehicles including trucks and other load carriers were stranded at Jammu bypass and Udhampur besides Manwal-mansar area of the highway.

IAF AIRLIFTS OVER 700 PASSENGERS

The Indian Air Force airlifted over 700 stranded passengers, including students, from Jammu to Srinagar on Monday, a defence spokespers­on said.

With this, the IAF has airlifted 1,431 people in the past four days, a defence spokespers­on said. For the first time, two C-17 Aircraft airlifted 707 passengers simultaneo­usly from the Jammu Air Force Station, he said.

The spokespers­on said the relief effort has been undertaken jointly by the IAF and civil administra­tion.

“In first sortie, a total of 301 and in the second sortie 406 passengers, including students, were airlifted,” he said.

“All the passengers were also provided with food packets by the Jammu-based Tiger Division. The passengers were extremely thankful to the civil administra­tion and armed forces,” the spokespers­on said.

As many as 538 persons, including 319 GATE aspirants, were airlifted in separate sorties by the IAF between the twin capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar, a defence spokesman had said on Saturday.

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