Heavy rainfall in the Ramban area of Jammu and Kashmir caused many landslides and shooting stones, officials said, leading to the suspension of traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway early on Saturday.
According to officials, there were more than six locations along the 270-kilometer highway—the only all-weather route connecting Kashmir with the rest of the nation was blocked between Nashri and Banihal.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has gathered personnel and equipment to clear the roadway for one-way traffic, the officials said.
Since February 26, traffic on the highway has been limited to one-way, with Jammu and Srinagar being the alternate routes. This is because last week’s severe rains and snowfall caused damage to the arterial road in multiple locations.
The meteorological department reports that Banihal received the most rainfall in the previous 24 hours—74.4 mm—around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.
It stated that most of the Union territory will continue to see rain in the lowlands and snow in high-altitude regions. On Saturday night, the weather should progressively get better.
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