Shooting stones disrupt traffic on Sgr-Jmu NH

Ramban, Mar 1:  The movement of traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was disrupted for some time due to a fresh spell of rain that triggered shooting stones at Kishtwari Pathar and Hingni areas between Ramban and Banihal on Friday.

Traffic officials said following rains, traffic movement was disrupted for some time due to shooting stones at the Kishtwari Pathar and Hingni area of Ramsu on Friday afternoon.

They said men and machinery of the concerned agency, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) deployed at both places cleared the accumulated stones and traffic movement was restored immediately.

The traffic officials said that despite the rain, hundreds of Light Motor Vehicles and heavy vehicles crossed the Banihal-Nashri stretch of the highway towards Jammu till late Friday evening.

However, they said that due to single-lane road stretches at Gangroo, Kishtwari Pathar, Hingni, Mehar Cafeteria, Ramban, and Dalwass, traffic movement remained slow between the Nashri-Banihal stretch of the highway.

Senior Superintendent of Traffic Police, National Highway, Ramban, Rohit Baskotra told Greater Kashmir that despite disruption at Kishtwari Pathar and Hingni, the highway remained open for one-way traffic for Jammu on Friday.

He said hundreds of vehicles crossed the Banihal-Nashri stretch of the highway.

Meanwhile, the J&K Traffic Department issued a fresh advisory for Saturday stating that subject to fair weather and good road conditions, only one-way traffic from Jammu towards Srinagar would be allowed on the highway.

They said that the cut-off timing for Srinagar-bound LMVs from Nagrota, Jammu, had been fixed from 6 am to 1 pm.

The traffic officials said that after clearing passenger LMVs, heavy vehicles would be allowed from Jakhani, Udhampur towards Kashmir on Saturday.

They said no vehicle would be allowed after the cut-off time on Saturday.

The traffic authorities advised commuters and drivers that keeping in mind the weather warning issued by the Meteorological Department, not to undertake journey on the highway without confirming the status of the road from Traffic Control Unit (TCU) Srinagar, TCU Jammu, TCU Udhampur, and TCU Ramban on Saturday.