Jammu-Srinagar highway closed after road patch caves in near Ramban

The 270-kilometre-long Jammu-Srinagar national highway was closed for traffic after a portion of the road caved in near Ramban town, officials said on Monday.

Efforts are on for an early restoration of the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, they added.

A portion of the road near the Kela Morh, about four km ahead of the Ramban district headquarters, sunk after a concrete retaining wall caved in on Sunday evening, the officials said.

They said the officers of the Ramban district administration, along with officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), rushed to the spot, which is located adjacent to an under-construction tunnel, to devise a strategy for an early restoration of the highway.

"The agency concerned has started the restoration work and efforts are underway to make the highway traffic-worthy as soon as possible," an official said.

The highway was opened for traffic only on Sunday after remaining closed for seven days following heavy snowfall and multiple landslides triggered by incessant rains.

Most of the Kashmir-bound vehicles had reached their destination when the road suddenly caved in near Ramban, leaving a few hundred vehicles stranded.

The officials said the traffic, which was supposed to ply from Srinagar to Jammu on Monday, was suspended in view of the incident.

The traffic on the highway plies alternatively from the twin capitals of Jammu and Srinagar to facilitate a smooth movement of vehicles in view of the ongoing work on the four-laning highway project.