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Highway closure hits supply of essentials in Kashmir

SRINAGAR: With continual snowfall and rain in the region since November last year, the Kashmir valley is faced with frequent disruptions in traffic movement on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which has remained mostly blocked for over a week now.

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Ehsan Fazili

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 4

With continual snowfall and rain in the region since November last year, the Kashmir valley is faced with frequent disruptions in traffic movement on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which has remained mostly blocked for over a week now.

Bad weather during winter in the Valley brings trouble to its residents as there is frequent disruption in vehicular movement and a decline in the supply of essentials. This is despite considerable advancement and development of the road and rail connectivity in the Valley in the last couple of decades. The frequent highway blockade has led to the shortage of essentials and other commodities, including mutton. It has led to the closure of butcher shops and lack of vegetables in markets.

“We have not received fresh supplies for the last 10 days so we the shops have been shut till we receive the new stock,” said Mohammad Shafi, a butcher in Srinagar. “The shortage of mutton has been continuing for the past three weeks now,” said Shabir Ahmad, another butcher in the Rajbagh area.

The Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which is part of NH-44, is most vulnerable to disruptions. It is the only surface link connecting the Valley with the rest of the country. Another road link, the 400-km-long strategic Srinagar-Leh highway remains cut off for traffic from November to April every year due to accumulation of snow on 11,575-ft high Zojila, about 100 km from Srinagar.

Meanwhile, the Jammu-Srinagar highway was partially opened last week but was again closed as landslides continued to block its mountainous stretches.

Highway opens for Valley-bound vehicles 

One-way traffic was allowed on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which opened on Monday after remaining shut for four consecutive days. The administration decided to allow only heavy motor vehicles, including supply trucks, to ply from Jammu to Srinagar. An official of the traffic department said trucks were allowed to travel from Jammu to Srinagar in view of the shortage of supplies in the Valley. 

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