Rain triggers landslide in Ramban, highway shut

Jammu, September 23

The Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Ramban district was closed on Sunday following a landslide triggered by heavy rains in the region, officials said. Several parts of Jammu received heavy rainfall on Sunday, with many high-altitude areas witnessing their first snowfall of the season.

Hundreds of vehicles were left stranded on the 270-km all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country. Traffic on the highway was restricted to one way from Jammu to Srinagar as a precautionary measure after the meteorological department forecast adverse weather conditions in the state for the next 48 hours. The road-clearance operation will be launched once the weather improves, the officials said. Several parts of the Jammu region were lashed by rains in the early hours of Sunday with high-altitude areas, including Bhaderwah in Doda district, experiencing the season’s first snowfall, they said. — PTI